


The Untold Story Of The Potter Twins

by Sappho_Moon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:08:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 67,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27759652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sappho_Moon/pseuds/Sappho_Moon
Summary: James Potter has a twin sister. This is their story of the trials and tribulations of being a teenager as a war looms beyond the safety of Hogwarts. Will they find love and a happy ending or will the raging war tear the friends apart?
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction. I will try to post once a week but I can't make any promises. I would like to add that I do not support JKR or anything she says.

**Chapter 1: Introductions**

**27th March 1960 The Cotswolds**  
It was a cold and damp day when Euphemia Potter went into labour. Fleamont Potter was awoken to a sharp gasp from his wife and grabbed their prepared bag to take to St.Mungo’s. To say the pregnancy was a shock was an understatement and they had been advised to get to St.Mungo’s as soon as they could.  
Euphemia was an old mother even by wizarding standards. There was an increased risk of complications, and twins. When the couple knew it was twins they were shocked but knew that they would be prepared.  
It was a long labour lasting many hours filled with pain and every other emotion possible but after the pain and suffering they were gifted. Two children with dark hair and bright eyes.  
“James Fleamont Potter”, Euphemia announced proudly looking at her son. She turned to look at her other child.  
“and Artemis Euphemia Potter”  
That day, Euphemia and Fleamont vowed that their children would live long and happy lives.

* * *

**30th January 1960 Cokeworth**  
Rose Evans drove herself calmly to the hospital. Her husband was sat in the back of the car looking after their elder daughter, Petunia. Rose had given birth before and knew what expect with the second. After all, how different can sisters really be?  
She gave her name and was wheeled into her birthing room. The midwife coached her through he pain and praised how calmly she was dealing with it all.

After what felt like only 10 minutes, Petunia and William Evans walked into the room to meet their new family member.  
“Petunia, meet your new sister, Lily Jane Evans”, Rose whispered as Petunia looked down in awe at her new sister.  
That day, Rose vowed that she would always keep her daughter safe.

* * *

**3rd November 1959 Islington**  
Walburga Black screamed out in pain. It had been a painful and difficult pregnancy that turned into a painful and difficult birth. The healer had arrived at the house 6 hours ago promising relief from the agony but brought only more. Apparently, the baby was stuck and should have been removed the muggle way to protect Walburga but Orion had asked whether the baby would survive either way. It would. The whole family only cared for the baby as it was a boy. An heir. So long as he survived, Walburga was expendable.  
After more hours than necessary, the baby boy was born. Walburga was left bleeding out as the whole family honoured their new heir.  
Walburga realised that no one cared about her. Her only job was to provide heirs.  
That day, Walburga vowed to give the Black family their perfect heir, even if it killed her.

* * *

**10th March 1960 Gwent**  
Hope Lupin was visiting her family in South Wales when it hit her. The pain. It was like nothing she’d ever felt before. She asked her mother what the hell was happening as she swore in both Welsh and English.  
“Are you pregnant?” her mother joked. Hope’s face paled. Oh fuck. She couldn’t remember the last time she had her period and oh fuck she was pregnant.  
After calling Lyall to come as fast as he could for their home in Pembroke. Hope and her mother prepared the bedroom. After a very, very short labour, a small baby boy was born.  
When Lyall arrived he was, shocked to say the least. He saw his wife and a small baby. The next step was a name. Lyall and Hope had a shared love of Roman mythology and settled on the name, Remus. Remus John Lupin, after Hope’s father and their favourite story of Remus and Romulus.  
Lyall obviously couldn’t apparate them all home so they took the car back. Sat in the car, Hope looked down at her child and secretly hoped that he would never grow up. She had never understood the wizarding way of sending their children away at 11 and knew that she would send Remus to a muggle primary school when he was of age.  
That day, Hope vowed to protect her child and let him live a normal life.

* * *

**29th April 1960 Manchester**  
Elizabeth Pettigrew walked herself to the hospital, walked herself up the stairs, signed herself in and gave birth on her own. She did not want this child, she did not want what he represented. She had left her pureblood family for the man she loved. Then he changed. He became rude, argumentative and irrational. When she tried to see her family again when she found out she was pregnant, Catherine Selwyn slapped her across the face for leaving to be with the half-blood scum.  
After a straightforward birth, she had her son. He would have been perfect had he not been the product of a hateful marriage. She named him Peter.  
That day, Elizabeth vowed that she would make sure her son always had people that would look after him and he would always have good relationships with his friends.

* * *

**28th October 1959 Glasgow**  
Melissa and Michael McKinnon grabbed their three older sons, Matthew, Maxwell and Mason. Melissa knew what to expect and was ready for her, hopefully, last child.  
After only an hour, a baby girl was born. Melissa looked down at her head of blonde hair and her tiny arms and thought that she was perfect. Melissa was worried about the growing tensions around the wizarding world, but she knew that her and her family were working to protect everyone.

That day, Melissa vowed to protect her child from the world and give her a long and happy life.


	2. The Train Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post this early because I am impatient. I'm not sure about the length of this chapter but here it is. So far I have about 10 chapters written and I will be posting either next weekend or at some point in the week depending on how much school work I have.

Artemis:  
“James!” Artemis yelled up the stairs of Potter Manor. “JAMES! I SWEAR IF WE ARE LATE FOR THE TRAIN I WILL PERSONALLY SHAVE YOUR HEAD!”  
“Art do not shave your brother’s head while you are away” warned Euphemia with a small smile on her face.  
"Mia let the children have some fun" Fleamont said smiling.  
"Monty I will not be happy if I get ten letters a week"  
It was September first, 1971 and it was their first day at Hogwarts. The week before, the twins along with Artemis’ best friend Marlene had been to Diagon Alley to buy their school stuff. They had eaten ice cream and had bought everything they needed for the year. James and Marlene spent the whole time trying to convince their parents to buy them the latest broom despite the ban of first years having brooms. They had all grown up playing quidditch together with Marlene’s brothers and had found their skills. James had the makings of a star chaser, Marlene had the perfect skills to be a beater and she knew how to work in a team , Artemis on the other hand had the perfect skills to be a spectator.

They had agreed to all meet at the train platform before the train left. Marlene had been there many times before to see her brother’s off but for the Potter twins it was their first time. Artemis quickly checked her hair in the mirror and took a moment to study her own face. She had grown up a lot in the past few months. She still had her baby fat around her cheeks and her appearance hadn’t changed that much but she saw herself as older now she was going to school. She had her mother straighten her hair with some spell or another in an attempt to tame it but it had done nothing to tame her wild jet black hair. She hadn’t inherited her mother’s curly hair but it did give an explanation of why her and James’ hair never seemed to stay flat.. Her eyes were the same as James’, they shared bright hazel eyes which seemed to shift with different lights. She was still examining her face when James came behind her and tickled her sides. She screamed and hit him in the arm.  
“Oi you two stop we need to leave” Euphemia said to her children. Artemis thought she saw her a hint of a solemn smile on her mother’s face as she realised that this was the last time she would see her children like this until Christmas.

All four members of the family flooed to the specialised room at Kings Cross for wizarding families to arrive at. They slipped out of the room and made their way over to platform 9 and 3/4.  
“Grab your trolleys and head into that wall at a small jog” whispered their father. Artemis and James shared a look of confusion and silently agreed to follow their father’s instruction. James, always the more confident of the two, went towards the wall and Artemis followed. As she ran through she stopped and looked around the platform in awe. The bright red train was billowing steam and whistling loudly. There must have been hundreds of families saying goodbye and hugging each other. James spotted Marlene’s blonde ringlets over among the other families and dragged Artemis over to her. Marlene grabbed Artemis into a tight hug and ruffled James’ hair affectionately.  
“Are you all ready to go? Its almost 11” said Melissa McKinnon in her thick Scottish accent. The twins and Marlene shared an excited look as they realised they were about to leave. All of the parents said goodbye to their children and gave them each a hug.  
“Good luck everyone and please try to behave” Euphemia said to the children, with a pointed look at James on the last part.  
“What?” James said confused as his attention was dragged away from a girl with bright red hair. All the parents laughed as James blushed red.  
The Potters and Marlene hopped onto the train enthusiastically and went to find a carriage. Artemis thought that everyone was overreacting when they told her that people ‘claim’ carriages for all their friends but after being kicked out of four by 6th and 7th years she was beginning to believe it. After what felt like an eternity, they found a carriage with three other first years in it. A small and skinny boy with greasy looking dark hair and an air of distrust for the Potter’s and Marlene introduced himself as Severus Snape. Artemis felt a bit bad for him as he looked malnourished but as he spoke she lost some of that sympathy. The girl who James had been staring at on the platform introduced herself as Lily Evans. Her hair was dark red and reminded Artemis of fire but her eyes were the most beautiful shade of green Artemis had ever seen and she thought they looked like emeralds. Artemis thought she was very pretty and understood why James had stared at her on the platform. Finally, a tall and lanky boy who had small scars covering his face shyly introduced himself as Remus Lupin. His dirty blond hair fell into his eyes which were green, like Lily’s, but different. They were a light green that reminded Artemis of plants and the seafoam she had seen on their holidays to Italy.

The twins and Marlene introduce themselves and after a small while a short boy with light brown hair and soft brown eyes knocked on the door to their carriage and asked to join them. He introduced himself as Peter Pettigrew. All of the other first years they had met seemed very nice and they spent the whole train ride talking and playing games. Even Remus joined in after a while as he claimed it was too loud to read his book even though Artemis hadn’t seen him read it for at least an hour. They ate everything from the trolley and when two kind looking prefects came around to tell them to get their robes on the three girls left together to go find somewhere to change. Lily fit in perfectly with Marlene and Artemis.  
“I do hope we are sorted into the same house” Artemis thought out loud as the girls entered the carriage to see the boys all talking awkwardly.  
“And what house do you want?” Snape asked with a sneer on his face.  
“Gryffindor” James said obviously  
“Maybe Ravenclaw like mum” said Artemis quietly  
“I don’t mind” said Lily, Remus and Peter  
“I think I’d like to be Gryffindor like my brothers” said Marlene  
Snape scoffed and whispered something about stuck up purebloods to Lily which made her glare at him.  
“Well I’m going to be in Slytherin and I think Lily would fit in very well there as well” Snape announced to the carriage which caused Lily to look away embarrassed. The rest of the train ride was spent in awkward silence.

Lily:

Lily felt that the train ride was one of the most awkward things that had ever happened. After the house conversation everything went downhill. As she got off the train at Hogsmeade station and walked to where a large man by the name of Hagrid was waiting to take the first years to the boats that Sev had told her about. She watched sadly as the Potter twins, Marlene and Peter climbed into their own boat of four. Remus looked at her with questioning eyes as Severus dragged her towards her own boat. She nodded slightly and Remus walked over to join them in their boat. Lily looked wistfully over at the boat with her new friends in it. She wished that Sev hadn’t been so rude to them on the train and that they could all be friends.

A stern looking woman introduced herself as Professor McGonagall and took the first years through to the Great Hall to be sorted. The hat was singing but Lily barely listened to what it said, she was too focused on the dark-haired twins. She really liked Artemis and James. James seemed a little immature, but she could tell there was more to him. She secretly hoped that her and Sev would be in different houses so that she could be friends with them without his interruption, but she pushed that thought aside. He was her oldest and best friend since Petunia had found out about her magic.

Next thing she knew the sorting was beginning. She ignored most of them until there were some shouts from the Slytherin table.

“Black, Sirius” the Slytherin table burst into cheers as a boy with long black hair strutted up to the sorting hat.

“Gryffindor” the hat yelled after only 5 seconds. The hall was silent. Lily was very confused but remembered that the Blacks were a very powerful and dark pureblood family that Severus had told her about. The boy seemed to have a small smile on his face for a split second before Lily saw him put on a scowl as he walked over to the table. Some of the Slytherin students glared at him but he seemed to ignore it as he sat with his arms crossed.

“Evans, Lily”

Lily walked with as much confidence as she could muster and the girls she met on the train gave her a small thumbs up as she walked past them. The hat sat on her head and she jumped a little as it started to talk to her.

 _Hmm, a very smart young witch here. A fair amount of ambition hmmm, could fit in Slytherin. Could also fit well in Ravenclaw lots of wit in this one. A caring personality_ Lily blushed at this _very hardworking so Hufflepuff may be the place. Ah, but what’s that I see in your future, this changes things slightly, so it better be_

“Gryffindor”

A large round of applause followed Lily as she walked over to the Gryffindor table. She sat next to the boy called Sirius and they introduced themselves politely. He explained quietly that his whole family were in Slytherin but he always wanted Gryffindor. That explained the smile earlier Lily thought to herself. She was so happy where she was until she looked over at Severus. He was glaring at the hat like he wanted to set it on fire. Lily suddenly felt very cold and uneasy in her new house. What if her and Severus never spoke again or what if he joined her she thought hopefully.

A yell of “Lupin, Remus” shocked Lily out of her trance. After around 3 minutes the hat finally yelled

“Gryffindor”

He looked proud of himself and went to sit with Sirius and Lily introducing himself to Sirius. Lily mainly ignored the other students she didn’t know until ones she did were called.

“McKinnon, Marlene” Lily smiled at her as she walked up, giving her a similar thumbs up that Marlene had given her earlier.

“Gryffindor” the hat yelled almost instantly. Marlene almost ran over Lily and hugged her as she sat down. Marlene said hello to the other first years and watched the rest of the ceremony with a smile on her face.

“Pettigrew, Peter”

“Gryffindor” the hat yelled after over 5 minutes, a hat stall as Severus had explained to her earlier in the week. He walked over and sat by the small group of first years that were congregating.

“Potter, Artemis” Lily waited anxiously until the hat yelled out,

“Gryffindor”, the two girls ginned at each other as Artemis came and sat with Lily and Marlene. They hugged each other quickly and as they began to whisper about living together for the next 7 years the next name was called.

“Potter, James”

James walked with a sense of faked confidence and Lily noticed that he seemed nervous. She did feel bad for him with all his friends and his sister being in Gryffindor but the moment the hat touched the top of his hair it yelled out,

“Gryffindor” James all but ran to hug his sister and Marlene. They all spoke among themselves for a small while until Lily recognised a name,

“Snape, Severus” He walked to the stool wringing his hands as he did.

“Slytherin” the hat yelled after 8 minutes, the longest of the night. Lily looked over at him sadly but all he did was offer her a small, forced smile.

The feats was the most amazing food Lily had ever eaten and she stuffed herself with everything. The rest of the new Gryffindors did the same and they all were laughing by the end of the feast about how they were all living together for the next 7 years. There were only the four boys that Lily had met in their dorm. Apparently after the first wizarding war there were less and less magical children being born but now there were more coming up. According to James, there were almost 15 Gryffindors when his dad was in school. There were 6 Gryffindor girls, Lily, Artemis, Marlene, a girl with short brown hair and a fiery temper called Alice Fortescue, a girl with a dark afro and a sweet demeanour called Dorcas Meadows and finally a tall girl with tanned skin and long brown hair called Mary MacDonald.

The feast was called to an end by Professor Dumbledore and the prefects were told to take the students to their dorms. The Gryffindor girls walked and talked as they were led all the way to the top of the castle to their dorm. They were given the password to the common room and introduced to the Fat Lady who smiled at them all kindly. The new Gryffindor boys were led to their dorms whereas the girls were shown their dorm by the female prefect. The girls squealed as they entered their dorm. Artemis and Lily took beds next to each other and the window. Marlene went next to Artemis and Lily had Mary next to her. Alice went next to Marlene and finally Dorcas went next to Mary.

The girls stayed up until well past midnight getting to know each other. Dorcas was from Cornwall and couldn’t wait to start herbology, Mary originally lived in Spain with her parents but they moved to Yorkshire when she was 9 and Alice was from London where her family ran the ice cream shop in Diagon Alley. When they finally fell asleep, all the girls dreamt of what adventures they would have in the next 7 years.

James:

James, Peter, Remus and Sirius spent their first night together getting to know each other. Sirius explained in a rather bleak way that his parents may kill him for not being in Slytherin and that they shouldn’t worry if a howler arrived in the morning because his cousins would obviously let them know. James hugged Sirius and half-jokingly told him that his mum would happily adopt him. After that rather sad conversation they found themselves winding down and falling asleep. No one mentioned it the next day when they heard soft cries from Sirius’ bed and they heard James go and sleep next to him.

James, ever the early bird, woke up at 6 the next morning and went to grab Marlene. The two of them had always shared a strict workout schedule which included but was not limited to a run every morning. He waited at the bottom of the girls stairs for her to come down but was instead shocked when the red hair of Lily Evans came down instead. She was engrossed in a book and didn’t seem to notice him as she took a seat in front of the fire. James couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked with her hair in a messy bun. He cleared his throat pointedly and she looked up from her book, blushing.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect anyone else to be here” she said softly.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Have you seen Marlene? She was meant to meet me” Lily was about to open her mouth when Marlene came rushing down the stairs, jumping the last three. Lily went back to her book as James said his goodbye while walking out the portrait hole.

After their run, James and Marlene showered and got changed into their school robes. As they sat down for breakfast, James noticed how each of their friends had a letter in their hands with varying reactions. Remus and Peter were clutching what appeared to be congratulations letter with pride, Mary was laughing at her letter as the other girls tried to decipher what it said, Lily was also giggling at her letter but there was something in her eyes that told James that it wasn’t a true laugh. Artemis walked over and handed James a letter from the envelope in her hands.

“Mum and Dad couldn’t be arsed to send them in two envelopes” she explained. James opened the letter and read his congratulations and the advice about Sirius. His mum had said to make sure he was ok and to protect him form his family, everyone knew what the Black family were capable of. As he read this a different type of letter arrived. A howler dropped onto Sirius’ plate. He sighed as he opened it.  
“SIRIUS ORION BLACK YOU WILL NOT UNDER ANYCIRCUMSTANCE BECOME FRIENDS WITH THOSE FILTHY BLOOD TRAITORS OR WORSE THOSE FILTHY MUDBLOODS AND HALFBREEDS THEY HOUSE IN THAT FOUL HOUSE OF YOURS. YOU WILL ONLY TALK TO THOSE OF PROPER STAUS AND YOU KNOW WHO I MEAN BY THIS. FOLLOW YOUR COUSIN’S EXAMPLES OR YOU WILL BE PUNISHED. I SWEAR-“

The howler was cut off by McGonagall vanishing it. She said something about it being inappropriate and that all other howlers from her would be vanished but James didn’t care. He grabbed Sirius and their timetables from McGonagall as he left the hall. Sirius had tears streaming down his face as he realised what his family was going to do to him. All James could do was remind him that he was safe and that they loved him like a brother already.

After a week of lessons the first year boys dorm was filled. Lily, Artemis and Marlene had come into the boys room to discuss the events of the day, everyone avoiding the elephant in the room that was Sirius’ letter. James couldn’t help but stare at Lily as she explain why potions was her favourite subject. Artemis adored charms along with Peter, Sirius and James shared a love for Defence against the dark arts. Marlene and Remus shred an unusual love for history of magic despite the teacher. All of them found transfiguration to be fascinating but most of them were scared of McGonagall.

The girls started to yawn as it grew later and decided to go back to their own dorm. As the boys were left alone James announced something,

“We should have a name”

“We already have names you may not have noticed” quipped back Remus

“I mean a name for us as a collective, and rules” James replied looking smug

“So like a club?” Peter asked

“Yes” James said pointedly.

After almost an hour, they had a name and a list of rules:

_The ~~Magical mischief makers~~ Marauders _

_Rules:_

  1. _Look out for each other, if someone is hexed hex the person back_
  2. _Keep each other’s secrets, no matter what_
  3. _Help the others with homework_
  4. _Help the others with anything (unless it’s super gross)_
  5. _Sisters are OFF LIMITS_



The boys looked over their list and agreed it was perfect. The name came from what McGonagall called them after they started playing catch with James’ badly transfigured teacup.

It was going to be a good year.


	3. Christmas Holidays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am doing a small chapter dump to get to the main story.

Chapter 5: Christmas Holidays

Artemis:

The Christmas holidays snuck up on the first year Gryffindors faster than they knew. The first term had disappeared in a whirlwind of lessons and homework. Lily and Marlene had fast become her best friends in the world and along with the “Marauders” ,as they now called themselves, she had found her best friends. They all stayed together as a group in lessons and between. The boys caused mischief which was often planned by Artemis but could never be traced back to her. Even Lily helped with a few small prank ideas. The girls had rules though, they only helped prank people who had done something bad. For example, a Slytherin was covered in goo only a day after they had been caught yelling slurs at a muggleborn student. While Lily would never admit it, she did take joy at watching people suffer after they hurt a student.

Artemis had invited Lily over for a few days at the Christmas holidays and couldn’t wait to see her. Marlene would spend the whole time there, as she often did, because her parents were working and her bothers were not trusted to look after her. Artemis hoped that the rest of the marauders were able to come over but she knew their situations. The whole group had found out about Remus’ ‘condition’ just before December. Lily had put pieces together of the dates where Remus was tired and off. The boys had only noticed after they walked in on the girls discussing it. After they all confronted Remus about it he was so upset, he was terrified they would hate him. They all hugged him and vowed that they would help him and cover for him.

“Art I am not missing Christmas because you are too busy looking in a mirror!” yelled James up the stairs. She grabbed the last of her stuff and ran down to the girls stairs. As she went to step onto the first step, Sirius but his foot on the bottom step and it turned into a slide for her to easily slip down. They all giggled as they grabbed their stuff and ran to the station.

Lily left part way through the journey to find her Slytherin friend, Severus or as the boys liked to call him, Snivellus. He was rude to every muggleborn apart form Lily but she was oblivious. She claimed he was different but the rest of their friends could see it. The rest of the group, talked and played games the whole journey.

As they all changed into their muggle clothes, Sirius looked awkward as he poked his head into the carriage. They all looked at him with confused faces and then, he stepped in. He was wearing very formal dress robes with his hair slicked in a very strange way for Sirius, who normally let his hair go naturally. He sat down and slumped in his seat, glaring out the window. As they all got off the platform to meet their parents the group noticed that Sirius was grabbed by a harsh looking woman who glared at him before apparating away.

The Potters along with Marlene apparated home and set up their rooms. Artemis walked into her room and flopped on her bed. She immediately started to write her letter to Lily.

_Dear Lily flower (I couldn’t resist I’m sorry),_

_I somehow miss you already, maybe I have become too accustomed to your constant page turning. I have Marlene here for the whole holiday which is very good however I am very scared that she may not be able to stop James from spending the whole time wishing the boys were here. Mum and Dad have said that you can come here for our annual New Year’s Eve party. I promise that the children’s party is better than the stuffy adult’s party. If you can come to the party you can stay until the end of the holiday’s. Please don’t tell James that your coming, I want to see his face when you show up._

_I really hope you can come soon_

_Love, Art_

Artemis folded the letter and handed it to James’ owl Zeus. As she watched him fly off she thought about everything that had happened this year. She really was loving Hogwarts and all her friends.

Christmas day arrived and the Potter traditions started. As Artemis was the oldest twin, she went to wake up James and Marlene. She knocked on each of their doors and they both walked out looking excited. They raced down the stairs and crashed onto the sofa. Marlene fell onto Artemis and she noticed how soft her hair felt against her face. She pushed the blonde ringlets out of her face and noticed that they smelt like peaches and lemongrass. They all sat up and her face was flush as she felt herself blush. She ignored the strange feeling about her friend and got ready for the presents. James and Marlene both got the latest broom and they immediately wanted to rush outside. Artemis got new schoolbooks and some very interesting books about animagi but the best part was the present that came in a small box with holes in it. She carefully picked up the box and opened the top. A tiny white kitten walked out of the box and onto Artemis’ lap. The whole family cooed over her.

“What are you going to name her?” asked Euphemia,

“I think I’ll name her Athena” She said with a small smile. The rest of Christmas was spent laughing at the new kitten and joking with the rest of the family . They ate a marvellous dinner prepared by both Mrs Potter and the house elves. After stuffing themselves with food and watching James and Marlene attempt to play quidditch with only two players the whole household fell into a deep sleep. The children all piled into James’ bed to sleep as per the usual tradition.

Artemis woke up the next morning with Marlene asleep on her chest. She smiled down at her best friend and in the most loving way possible, pushed her out of bed. Marlene woke up with a start and gasped as she realised what Artemis had done.

“Art, did you push me out of the bed?” Marlene asked with a smirk on her face. Artemis didn’t respond and instead had a sly smile on her face. Marlene grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at Artemis’ face. It missed and hit James instead. James woke up, grabbed the pillow and whacked Artemis with it. After an hour of chaotic pillow fighting they all ran downstairs covered in feathers. Zeus flew into the dining room and dropped a letter in front of Artemis. She ripped it open and read it:

_Dear Artemis,_

_My parents said yes to me coming over for the party and for the rest of the holidays. YAY! I hope your Christmas is good, mine was pretty ok but Petunia was annoying as usual. I can’t wait to see you but is it ok if your parents pick me up? I have no idea where you live haha._

_Love, your dearest Lily Flower (I hate this nickname)_

As she read the letter, Artemis smiled to herself. This was going to be fun.

31st December

Lily had arrived earlier in the day and had spent two hours being shown around the Potter Manor. Lily was in awe of all of the magic that filled the house. She was assured that the house elves were treated with respect and love. She gasped when Artemis and Marlene showed her the grand hall where the main party would take place. The plan was for Artemis and Marlene to greet the “pureblood snobs” as James described them while Lily waited in Artemis’ room. Peter and Remus were already waiting in James’ room for the Potter twins and Marlene. After everyone was finished downstairs, the children would all meet in the attic of the manor and have their own party.

Artemis and Marlene had just finished putting on their fancy dress robes when James burst into their room. Lily was sat on the bed reading and laughing at the two girls dressing up. She looked up when James entered.

“James what are you doing?” Artemis asked with a very confused look on her face.

“I, um. I don’t remember, um bye” James stammered out while staring at Lily. He left, blushing and still staring at Lily. The girls all giggled as he left and Lily’s face matched her hair.

As Artemis and Marlene stood with James greeting guests, they all noticed a familiar face. Sirius Black’s normally bright grey eyes were lifeless as he shook Marlene’s hand.

“Pleasure to see you. Your home is lovely Ms and Mr Potter” he said in an unusually formal voice. A woman with a smile that was clearly fake was stood behind him, digging her long nails into his shoulder. Artemis and James’ parents stood next to their children and calmly.

“Pleasure to see you again Mrs Black and it’s lovely to finally meet you Mr Black” said Euphemia with a caring look on her face. She had been told all about Sirius’ situation. The two mothers shared a polite look laced with an emotion Artemis couldn’t quite place. The Potters remained publicly impartial in political issues whereas the Blacks were openly against muggleborn students at Hogwarts and in the wizarding world. There was often tension between the Black family and anyone who didn’t follow their beliefs.

After meeting everyone who had arrived at the party, the children snuck upstairs to join their friends. Lily had already left Artemis’ room to join Remus and Peter in James’ room. They were playing a game of wizard chess while Lily sat entranced by the game. As the twins and Marlene walked in, Peter cried out as Remus destroyed him in chess. Lily laughed as Peter hit Remus playfully with a pillow. James walked in and sat solemnly on his bed, everyone stopped laughing at the chess situation and looked over at him. He had his head in his hands and looked upset. Artemis walked over and put her arm around him. The rest of the marauders joined them on the bed and put their arms around James. The rest of the night was spent talking quietly as none of them were in the mood to party. They celebrated at midnight and fell asleep shortly after.

James and Artemis fell asleep and vowed to protect Sirius.


	4. The Rest of The Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super short and feel free to miss this and the next chapter. There is literally no point in these other than to move the time

Artemis:

The next thing the Marauders and the girls knew it was the end of first year. In a blur of lessons and exams the year was done before it had even started. The whole year they had spent trying to find ways to get Sirius out of his house with varying levels of fantasy. They had decided that Sirius would spend as much time as he could over the Potters.

They had all grown closer over the first year, apart from James and Lily. James had taken to hexing and annoying Snivellus any time he could, which Lily did not approve of. Despite everyone’s warnings about him and the way he treated people, Lily remained his friend. This had led to many arguments between Lily and James which had put Artemis and Marlene in difficult places. They had come to an agreement that they would hang out with both Lily and James but never bring the other up. The girls stayed away from the boys when Lily and James were arguing, dubbed Lames by Sirius, to prevent any conflicts. Nevertheless, summer was here. They would go their separate ways and not have to deal with Lames arguing.

The small pranks throughout the year had grown in size and skill level. Artemis helped with most of them but occasionally they boys left her out. Her personal favourite was when they managed to make all of the armour walk around and sing happy birthday to anyone who walked past whether it was their birthday or not. They had laughed until they cried, or until McGonagall had seen them and put them into detention for the next week. They had been tasked with scrubbing the trophy room and they had spent half of it admiring them. James had found Remus’ dad on one of the trophies and Remus had spent the rest of the night writing to ask why he’d never mentioned being in a duelling club.

They had found the kitchens one night while running away from Filch while they were exploring. They had spent the night eating and laughing with the elves before sneaking back to their common room. The invisibility cloak forgotten in James’ pocket as they tried to run round corners. It was easy for them all to fit under it for the time being. They had returned to the dorms with arms full of cakes and sweets. Artemis had handed them out to the girls in her dorms. They had all become close but Lily, Artemis and Marlene were closer to each other then the other girls.

As they stepped off the train, Artemis hugged Marlene and Lily as they said their goodbyes. They would meet up over the summer but after living together, it wasn’t enough. James took one last lingering look at Lily before Euphemia and Fleamont grabbed their children, and apparated away.

The summer was spent playing very bad quidditch with Marlene’s family as half of them couldn’t fly in a straight line. Artemis spent those hours reading the text books for the next year as she wanted to be prepared. Her and Lily had bonded during school over their love of being prepared and their love of learning. While James never had to fight to do well in his classes, Artemis had to try a little harder in some subjects. Charms, transfiguration and history of magic was never a problem for her but DADA, potions and herbology were more difficult than expected. Astronomy was a simple lesson that Artemis enjoyed as well but she always found herself too tired to care. She loved the moon and had a strange love of stars but the lesson was simple.

Over the summer the Marauders except Sirius stayed over for a few days at a time. When Remus returned home for the full moon they came up with a plan. After researching for the whole day and scouring all the books in the library they found some interesting information. Apparently, a werewolf cannot turn a person if they are in Animagus form and it can help them stay safe if they have companions. The Marauders with Artemis looked at each other with hope in their eyes as Sirius told them the information.

“We should do it” James announced

“Yes but how? Becoming an Animagus is impossible” Peter responded. He was right and they all knew it. Becoming an Animagus was impossibly hard and illegal. And yet, all of them wanted to do it.

Lily:

Lily’s summer had been interesting to say the least. Her sister had barely spoken to her, her parents caught in the middle of their daughters but at least she had Severus.

“Sev, why do you hang out with the people you do? They’re always rude to me and Mary about being muggleborn” Lily had asked one day when they were walking through on of the fields near their houses.

“Lily I’ve told you before they aren’t bad people. Why are you so bothered who I hang out with, you never listen to me when I tell you about Black and Potter?” Severus had answered harshly.

“Well I’m friends with Potter’s sister, you would like her, and I don’t exactly hang out with them. They happen to be there when I’m with the others” Lily said defensively.

“Lily drop it just because I talk to them doesn’t mean I agree with what they say. There is nothing wrong or different about you because you are muggleborn” Severus said. Lily believed him.

After that they had gone to their ways. Lily ignoring her sister and the hurtful comments, spending whole days out with Severus, doing magic in the safety of her bedroom. Getting letters about her magic. Lily had received a total of ten letters by the end of the holidays about the magic she was doing. The could never press charges because she always did it in private and never in front of her family. Lily loved the rush she got from being good at something. In primary school she was often told off for not paying attention, being too lost in her book to answer questions but she never minded. Magic she was good at. Her family had celebrated the letter they received when her letter for the next year arrived. A small but thoughtful note from McGonagall informed her parents of how well she was doing.

Lily missed her friends over the summer, and couldn’t wait to get back. 


	5. The Next Three Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gives a little context but feel free to skip it. It's the last chapter before the main stuff starts

Artemis:

Not much changed from the summer of first year. They went back to school in the autumn and it was mostly the same. James and Lily fought over his pranks, James, Marlene and Sirius got onto the quidditch team and they decided to become animagi. Turns out that last part was far more difficult than expected. There were no books anywhere on how to become an animagi, only on the dangers of it. Remus still didn’t know anything about their plan and they wanted to keep it that way. If he knew then he would tell them not to.

Third year brought the start of their new subjects, Artemis adored ancient runes and her and Remus had formed a great friendship from it. The fights between Snivellus and James became even more heated while the girls tried to convince Lily to stay away from him. Snape was becoming more prejudiced towards every muggle born apart form Lily. He was helping hex first years, making comments in the halls and hurting people. But Lily couldn’t see it.

Fourth year brought James crush on Lily into the open. Artemis and Marlene had found out when Lily came to visit and they found James staring at her from his broom. He quickly went back to passing it back and forth with Sirius, who had managed to come over for a day, before the girls burst out in laughter. That night, Sirius, Marlene and Artemis had cornered him and questioned him about it until he confessed. Over the school year James asked Lily out a total of 3 times before Remus used a spell to silence him anytime he started to try again. Lily had become more annoyed with James as he still hadn’t stopped attacking Snape. Their conflicts had become more dangerous and hurtful. At the end of fourth year there was an incident which left James with detentions for every night of June. Lily had been furious and refused to talk to him.

But now it was September again. Fifth year was the year of O.W.L.s. Artemis, Marlene and Lily decided to ignore all other issues and focus on their studies. There was one small issue for Artemis though. Over the summer, her and James had found a book with direct instructions on how to become an Animagus. The steps were tedious and confusing but they knew it was what they had to do. The start of the process was easier but the rest, Artemis shuddered at the thought.

As Euphemia yelled for her children to hurry up Artemis sighed. She knew it was going to be a hard year. She looked at James as he walked out of his room. He had grown far too much for her liking over the summer. He was not at least 2 inches taller than her and made sure she knew it. They were both fairly tall but she was getting annoyed at the newfound difference in their heights. Over the summer, Artemis’ hair had somehow started listening to her. It no longer pointed in the random directions like James’ did and it fell in a waterfall down her back. They walked down the stairs and got ready to leave. She was ready for whatever this year held.


	6. The Start of Fifth Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a chapter that does something.

Artemis:

As they apparated with their mum to the station, Artemis noticed herself staring at the beauty that was Marlene McKinnon. Her parents had been off work for most of the summer so the whole family took a trip to Australia. Marlene’s normally bright blonde hair was lighter and seemed to glow in the light of the platform. Her skin had tanned which made the muscles in her arms from quidditch stand out even more than usual. Like James, Marlene had grown over the summer which made Artemis smile to herself. Marlene was shorter than Artemis but still not as small as Lily. Artemis quickly looked away as she noticed her eyes fall below the collar of Marlene’s muggle blouse. The two girls ran to each other for a hug and the strange thoughts about her best friend exited her brain. James had obviously noticed Lily’s red hair standing out in the crowd as he suddenly ignored all the talk of quidditch and holidays. Marlene and Artemis saw where James was staring and ran to grab her.

“Marls, Art you’ve both grown and I hate it” Lily said with a small pout. Lily was by far the shortest of the group as all of them seemed to be part giant. Marlene lifted Lily up as she giggled. Artemis dragged Lily over to meet her mother as Lily had left her parents on the muggle platform,

“Mum. Lily is here” Artemis said smiling as James turned a lovely shade of crimson.

“Oh hello Lily dear, I’ve heard lots about you over the summer and congratulations on becoming a prefect” Euphemia replied kindly. James suddenly looked very interested in his shoes.

“Wait, you’re the prefect?” Artemis asked “How does mum know but I don’t?”

“Um, I told Remus and I was waiting to surprise you. I guessing he told the boys and _someone_ told your mum” She replied with a pointed look at James.

After that interaction between Lily and James on the platform, they stayed away from each other on the train. Lily and Remus left early on to go to the prefect meeting and Lily had gone to sit with Snivellus for the rest of the journey Remus informed the group. Sirius somehow looked worse after every holiday he spent at home, so everyone subtly tried to look after him the whole train ride. James gave him the ‘extra’ food his mum had packed him, Remus shared his sacred chocolate supplies and gave him a small squeeze on the hand, Peter gave him a cake he had bought in the muggle shop before coming onto the platform and Marlene and Artemis painted his nail. Sirius adored the muggle punk rockers and decided that black nail polish would annoy his family almost as much as piercing his ears, which the girls promised to do when they arrived. The rest of the trip was spent talking about music and what the prank plans were for the year.

During the sorting ceremony, Lily came and sat in between Marlene and Artemis. She spoke happily to all the boys apart from James. Her and Remus spoke about the other prefects and who would do the duties. Alice’s boyfriend Frank Longbottom was the prefect in charge of setting the password this term which made Remus very sad. He had planned to annoy people by making it some weird welsh word which Lily was sure wasn’t polite. The girls planned which earrings they were going to give to Sirius when they pierced his ears and Lily even had a long conversation with Peter about mandrakes as they shared herbology lessons. The only person she didn’t look at was James. James looked like someone had kicked his puppy.

Lily

Merlin Lily needed to snap out of this. The real reason she couldn’t look at James was because she knew she wouldn’t be able to tear her eyes away from his newfound beauty. Lily had thought about how hot she found James over the summer when she was trapped in her house with Petunia. She had brought her new boyfriend, Vernon, over for meals almost every week. He looked like someone had tried to make a person out of balloons. All Lily could think about was how she would much rather date someone who looked like James Potter. Muscles, tall, handsome and by the end of the summer she had developed a small crush on him. However, one conversation with him on the platform had thrown that crush off the astronomy tower. Despite hating his personality and how much he hurt Sev, she couldn’t deny that he was fit.

After the feast, they all headed into the boys’ dorm to have their annual back to school celebration. They ate sweets and made fun of all their parents. Lily still avoided talking to James as much as she could and glared at him any time he made a mean comment about Sev. Putting thoughts of her best friend out of her head, she whispered in Artemis’ and Marlene’s ears,

“Let’s do Sirius’ ears”. The girls nodded and left the room under the guise of putting pyjamas on. Sirius noticed the look that the three girls shot him and followed them out, leaving three very confused boys behind him. They quickly grabbed Lily’s small first aid kit and a needle ad took it down to the common room. No one was left in there to their surprise, so they set off to work. Artemis did one ear and Marlene did the other while Lily sat holding Sirius’ hands. When it was done, Lily put two simple silver studs in his ears with the promise that once they healed, he could wear any earrings he wanted.

They walked back to the dorm and let Sirius walk in after them. As Sirius walked in showing off his new look, Lily noticed Remus staring with his mouth open. Remus stared for a few more seconds before very suddenly excusing himself to the bathroom. No one but Lily seemed to notice the unusual reaction from Remus who normal would have made a sarcastic comment or joke. She shrugged it off and promised herself she would ask about it during their prefect rounds.

After hours of chaos and fun the girls left and went back to their own dorm. Lily slipped into her bed and passed out, dreaming of James Potter on a broom.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lily awoke suddenly as she heard Marlene swearing around the room. Athena, now a full-grown cat, jumped off Artemis’ bed quickly. All the girls looked at her confused until they realised. There was blood on her bed and pyjama bottoms. Lily silently handed her the potion she had been working on to alleviate cramps as Marlene walked into the bathroom scowling. Artemis quickly cleaned the sheets with a simple spell and they went about their day. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence for the girls to wake up like this, after all they were six teenage girls living together. Marlene walked into the room again looking less flustered than earlier and ran over to Lily.

“Thank you. That potion is a fucking life saver and I have those bloody quidditch trials today” Marlene said with a thankful look. It had been three weeks since fifth year had started and nothing much had happened due to everyone drowning in homework. The teachers seemed to want to pile all the work for their OWLs in one term. They woke up, went to classes, went to the library and went to sleep. Even James and Sirius joined them in the library and actually did work rather than annoy everyone else. Quidditch trials were a welcome distraction from all the work they had to do. This year Sirius had begged Lily and Remus to watch them with Peter and Artemis as they were the only ones who normally went and they both begrudgingly agreed. Lily still hadn’t asked Remus about his reaction to Sirius’ earrings and she was hoping today she could have an opportunity to.

Peter and Artemis walked down with James, Marlene and Sirius while Lily and Remus stayed behind to finish off some arithmancy homework. As they finished up, Lily looked at Remus who was staring out the window of the library.

“A penny for your thoughts?” Lily asked curiously.

“Oh um, nothing much” Remus responded awkwardly. Lily gave him a questioning look which he ignored.

“It’s ok, I was just going to ask you about Sirius” Lily responded nonchalantly. The moment Sirius’ name was mentioned Remus looked up suddenly with bright red cheeks.

“Wha- what do you mean?” Remus stammered

“Oh nothing, just curious about your reaction last night” Lily said casually

“Well, um. Dw I’n dwp. Lily I um. I need to tell you something” Remus stammered out. Lily knew it was difficult because Remus only spoke Welsh at school when he was extremely nervous.

“It’s okay Remus, you don’t have to tell me” Lily responded kindly, placing a hand on his arm.

“No, I need to tell someone. Merlin Lily, I think I’m gay.” Remus said softly. Lily immediately jumped across the table to give him a hug.

“Well it does explain the look on your face when we pierced Sirius’ ears” Remus blushed a deeper shade of red as Lily continued “So, have you dated anyone at home?”

“There was this one guy. His name is Mark and we snogged a bit while walking our dogs together but that’s over because of school” Remus responded looking giddy at the memories. They chatted a bit about Remus’ summer fling before heading down to the quidditch pitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe this is the start of the gayness. The Welsh Remus says just translates to "I'm stupid"   
> This is probably the last chapter for a few weeks. I have exams for two weeks non stop because teachers hate me so I don't think I'll have time to post. However, don't be shocked if another one pops up. I've got 15 chapters written so far and I promise they're getting better.  
> -Moony (yes that is my actual nickname)


	7. Quidditch trials

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so short sorry

Lily

The Captain, a seventh year called Henry Jones, had the prospective chasers work with James and him to score past Sirius as keeper. The rest of the students trying out were flying around trying to avoid being hit with the bludgers Marlene was sending their way. Lily couldn’t take her eyes off James though, he flew effortlessly through the air and easily caught every horrible pass that was thrown his way. She noticed herself staring and instead focused on her best friend. Marlene was not going easy on the potential new ones. The only player that seemed to be able to hit back with almost as much power as Marlene was a sixth year called Molly DeRose. 

After the trials were over, Marlene asked Molly to come over and talk to her and Lily while Artemis was off annoying James and Sirius.

“Why have we never seen you here before?” Marlene asked bluntly

Molly laughed a little before responding in a heavy French accent, “I have just moved here from Beauxbatons. My Mere got a job at the ministry and decided to move me here too”

Lily and Marlene both laughed when they realised how dumb they were being. It was well known to the McKinnons, and Lily as Marlene had told her, that Delphine DeRose had been asked to come from the French ministry to help with the increase of attacks on muggleborn wizards.

* * *

Artemis

Merlin Marlene looks amazing on a broom. Artemis couldn’t help but notice how she seemed to glow while on a broom. The muscles in her arms rippled with every hit and she somehow managed to make hitting with all of her power look effortless. Artemis shook her head at the thoughts she was having about her best friend. She knew girls were pretty but Merlin, why did it have to be Marlene.

She walked back to the castle still laughing at James as he attempted to ask Lily out yet again. Remus was distracted talking to Sirius at the time and only sent the silencing spell after he had done the damage. Lily responded in her usual manner,

“I’d rather date the giant squid” and blew a kiss towards the lake. Artemis always enjoyed laughing at her brother and nicely told him,

“Hey, if you grow your hair out, maybe it will look like tentacles and Lily will date you” Artemis ran away cackling with Lily and Marlene as James tried to hit her. The girls flopped onto a sofa by the window in the common room as they caught their breath. James and Peter had decided to chase them with tickling jinxes as they ran back up to the tower until they had given up and focused on the results of the trails. Marlene asked Lily to grab her some more potion for her cramps which left the two alone. Artemis noticed Marlene staring at the other beater, Molly, with a strange look on her face.

“Hey, Marls you okay there?” Artemis asked.

“Arti,” Marlene was the only one who called her this “do you notice how pretty that Molly girl is?” she asked, ignoring Artemis’ previous question.

“Um, sure I’d say she looks nice” Artemis responded quickly. The truth was she had noticed but had found Marlene the superior of the two. The pair sat in silence as Marlene watched Molly with her friends next to the fire. Artemis found a strange emotion creeping inside of her, but she couldn’t place it.

When Lily returned Marlene took the potion like a shot and went back to her daydreams. Suddenly, James walked over and asked his sister to come up to his room. When they arrived, he sent Remus downstairs to work on his homework with Lily. Remus shot Artemis a confused look before walking out the room, shaking his head.

Peter then handed each person left in the room a leaf. Artemis looked at it with confusion while the boys slipped them into their mouths.

“Shit I forgot to tell you” said James with a mouth full of leaf. He then handed her a list:

_Stuff we need to become Animagi_

_Carry a single Mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire month then leave in direct moonlight in a phial with saliva and hair_

_Add a silver teaspoon of dew from a place that neither sunlight nor human feet have touched into the phial and leave in a quite dark place until the next electrical storm_

_While waiting for the storm, you must place your wand tip over your heart every sunrise and sundown and speak the following incantation: ‘Amato Animo Animato Animagus’_

_As soon as lightning appears in the sky, go to the place where you’ve hidden your crystal phial. It should be blood red and drink it._

_Then you repeat Amato Animo Animato Animagus and attempt to change._

Artemis looked at the boys who were staring at her expectedly. She rolled her eyes and popped the leaf under her tongue. Her face contorted as she tasted the horrible flavour of the leaf. Somehow it tasted like Brussel sprouts and rotten fish. Artemis fought the urge to spit it out. The boys all laughed as she glared at them between the looks of horror.

“Don’t worry, the taste fades in a few minutes” Peter said with a sympathetic look. Artemis shot him a thankful smile. They spent the next hour planning ways to keep the leaf in their mouths. Their final plan was to say that they had taken a vow of silence to raise funds for the Sirius Black foundation. They had chalk boards around their necks and were prepared for it. As they walked downstairs to see the rest of their friends, Sirius coughed. He spluttered for a moment before trudging up the stairs. Artemis and James looked at each other for a moment in confusion before realising that Sirius must have swallowed his leaf. Five minutes later Sirius walked down with a sour look on his face.

“I think we should have a party” James announced suddenly. The Marauders didn’t need any excuse for a party however they normally teamed up with the Prewett twins as they were older. Since they started Hogwarts, the boys had found every hidden passage possible. After many times escaping to Honeydukes’ (Artemis and James always left money when they took things) they were adept at getting party supplies. The Prewett twins walked over to the boys at the mention of a party.

“So children what do I hear about a party?” Gideon said with a wink at Lily. Lily blushed as Marlene and Artemis raised their eyebrows. James look ready to hex him into next week before Sirius interjected,

“Nah not at the moment, we’re breaking our vow of silence already _James_ ” Sirius said with a slight lisp. Fabian looked at Sirius questioningly but let it slide.

“Well good luck with that, but I think a party will do us all good” Fabian said. With one final wink at Lily, Gideon followed his twin to their dorm, presumable to plan a party.


	8. The Party

Lily:

Oh, Merlin’s soggy underwear. Gideon Prewett winked at her. Lily couldn’t deny that he was handsome. He was older, experienced, smart and gorgeous. Both Artemis and Marlene had interrogated her when they went to their dorm to get dressed. Artemis seemed to have joined the boys, minus Remus, in their vow of silence so her questions were written down. Marlene decided that Lily would have to look stunning for Gideon at the party. Alice was going with her boyfriend Frank and said that she would help Lily talk to Gideon as they were all in the year above them. The girls dorm turned into a full beauty salon. Mary was doing everyone’s hair, Dorcas and Marlene were on makeup, Alice was painting her nails and attempting to style her short hair before giving up and plopping herself in front of Mary. Artemis was attempting to stop Athena from scratching any of the dresses the girls had laid out. That cat was well known for attacking anything with sparkle. Before they all got dressed, a very smug looking Sirius Black knocked on the door. He held a cloak which Lily had seen in Artemis’ trunk many times before and looked out of breath. The girls didn’t want to know how he got up, just why he was there.

“Do my eyeliner” he practically yelled. He looked like a puppy who had just been given a new toy. Marlene laughed and grabbed the small tube off her bed. She applied small lines across his eyelids, swearing like a sailor every time he moved. Eventually Sirius left and the girls got dressed. Lily had her hair in a slick ponytail which showed off her bright eyes which had large wings of eyeliner on them. She thought that for once she looked good. Her small frame was accentuated with a navy dress that cinched in at her waist and went out at her hips. She couldn’t stop swishing her skirt. The rest of the girls were in similar things apart from Marlene. She was wearing long black trousers, a white blouse and a leather jacket. Even Lily had to admit she looked good. Her bright hair stood out and accented her bright blue eyes. Lily had to avoid looking at Artemis because even though she had her hair down and her eyes were highlighted with blue eyeshadow, she still looked so much like James. Lily pushed her thoughts of James out of her head and grabbed Alice’s arm.

They walked down the girls stairs to see the party in full swing. Alice dragged Lily towards where Frank and Gideon were stood by the drinks table. Gideon stopped his conversation when he saw Lily. Frank elbowed him in the stomach before kissing Alice on the lips and whispering something in her ear which made her giggle in a very un-Alice way.

“You look amazing Lily” Gideon said still staring at Lily. Lily blushed as he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Shall we dance?” he asked and Lily nodded enthusiastically. As she was dancing she noticed Artemis and Marlene giving her a very bug thumbs up. Even Sirius was there smiling at. Remus probably would have, if he wasn’t too busy staring at Sirius. He was wearing tight leather trousers and a leather jacket. Sirius, still staying silent, walked over to the record player that was used in the common room and changed the song. Suddenly, the sound of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody filled the room. Sirius then jumped onto one of the tables and started dancing.

“Sirius, get down you’re drunk” Remus yelled as Sirius dramatically ripped off his jacket.

“Haven’t had anything to drink sweetheart” Sirius yelled back with his lisp still prominent. The common room roars as they were all singing and dancing along with Sirius, who had become Freddie Mercury in a matter of moments. Lily and Gideon were laughing their heads off when Gideon grabbed Lily’s hand and led her out of the portrait hole. Lily looked up at him with a confused look on her face before he kissed her. Lily was caught off guard but relaxed into it. Next thing she knew, they were snogging against the wall. Lily thought he was an amazing kisser and all her thoughts of James disappeared as Gideon ran his hands through Lily’s hair, which had come out at some point in the night. After what Lily would later describe as 5 minutes of pure bliss, Gideon stopped kissing her and took a step back. Both their hair was ruffled and their lips were swollen. They grinned at each other before walking back into the common room. No one seemed to notice them slipping back in. Lily didn’t notice James looking over at her with a sad look on his face before taking a very long slurp of firewhiskey through the straw he had been using.

* * *

Artemis:

Merlin’s ball sack Marlene looked good. After Sirius’ not so drunken dancing on the table, the rest of them had decided to dance. James and Peter stayed with Remus, who couldn’t stop staring at Sirius, while the 5th year girls and Sirius were dancing. Mary and Dorcas were twirling each other around as the music swelled. Sirius was wiggling his eyebrows at Remus and trying to get him to dance as Remus rolled his eyes and sipped his drink. Artemis couldn’t take her eyes off Marlene though. Her ringlets were plastered to her neck with sweat, her jacket had come off leaving her in only the blouse and her trousers. Artemis stared at her as they laughed and sang the words to songs they barely knew, laughing even harder when they made up new lyrics. After a while, Artemis went to attempt to have a drink when James handed her a straw. She gratefully accepted. She slowly slurped her drink while Marlene danced with Sirius and Remus. Molly, the new beater, walked over to Marlene and danced with her. Artemis could feel a pang of jealousy at seeing her best friend dancing with someone else. Next thing she knew though, James was glaring at the back of Gideon’s head. He was holding hands with Lily and kissing her occasionally on the cheek. James finished his drink and walked to his dorm. Peter looked at her questioningly and she just shook her head.

An hour later, the party was winding down and those who weren’t as drunk helped their friends up the stairs. Sirius was having far too much fun turning the girl’s stairs into a slide and watching people slide down. Artemis and Lily slapped him upside the head as they walked past, leaving Marlene with Molly. The girls giggled as Lily told her all about what happened with Gideon. Artemis wrote down her questions, such as how can you tell him apart form Fabian. Lily gave her all the details of the kiss and the rest of the night. Lily was blushing so profusely that even Alice, who staggered in looking more disheveled than Lily did, asked her what happened. After half an hour of gossiping, Marlene finally walked in. Her hair was messier than anyone had seen it before and half the buttons of her blouse was undone. Everyone stared at her with wide eyes. She blushed and very quickly said,

“It was just some passionate snogging that’s all”. The girls all lifted their eyebrows and begged her for details. Artemis didn’t participate in this questioning and instead wrote something about how she wanted to go to sleep. She very carefully brushed her teeth and put her hair into a bun to sleep. As she walked out of the bathroom and crawled into bed, pushing Athena off her pillow, she noticed Marlene stood awkwardly by the end of her bed. She walked over and knocked on the side of Artemis’ bed before sitting on the end. Artemis smiled slightly at the old habit and closed the curtains. They only ‘knocked’ on the bed when it was something important. Artemis cast a spell around the bed to make it soundproof and looked at Marlene expectedly.

“Look, I think I need to talk to you” Marlene said quietly as Artemis has a confused look on her face, “So you know Molly, we ended up talking when everyone had left the common room and she kissed me, hence the clothes” Marlene gestured at her disheveled clothing. Artemis grabbed a spare piece of parchment off her nightstand and scribbled what she wanted to say:

_So are you two dating or something?_

“Well, we spoke and said that we didn’t want to do anything that could put our quidditch relationship in jeopardy”

_Do you like her?_

“I mean, she’s fit and she’s definitely a good kisser but I don’t think so. We may just snog in a broom closet every now and then” Marlene giggled. Artemis felt her heart sink. She told herself that it was because she didn’t want to be the only one of her best friends not ‘with’ someone.

_This is super blunt but are you, you know?_

_“_ I think so. I like snogging Molly but I also think I’d enjoy snogging a guy. I’m not too sure but I’ll figure it out. Or maybe I won’t who knows” Marlene flopped into Artemis’ pillow after this as she giggled. Artemis playfully pushed her off the pillow and Marlene looked up with a sly smirk on her face before attacking Artemis with a pillow. The repeat of the Christmas pillow fight had Artemis giggling while trying to hold the leaf to the roof of her mouth. The girls finally collapsed onto Artemis’ bed as they usual did after parties. Marlene never seemed to be able to find her way to the right bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting interesting *waggles eyebrows


	9. Chapter 9

Artemis:

After many failed attempts in the first few days, they had all managed to keep their leaves in their mouths for one whole month. They had also managed to gain donations for their vow of silence, which Artemis thinks McGonagall paid for. They next had to add the leaf into a phial with the dew and wait. James had collected the dew on his morning run with Marlene, who didn’t even question it at this point. They were all extremely anxious about the next part. If they missed an incantation at either sunrise or sunset they were doomed. Thankfully, sunrise was getting later so they would be awake but sunset was harder. If they happened to be in lesson or worse, detention, at sunset then they were more likely to be caught. Getting caught would result in far worse than a few detentions. Over their year, they had all taken their share of detentions. Artemis had the least out of the Marauders. Even as an honouree member she was counted in the detention tally. She could always talk her way out of it and often pretended to be catching the boys in the act. This ‘good’ reputation did always help when she was the one laying the prank.

That evening, they each took a phial with the dew James had placed inside. They happily spat the vile leaf into it along with their own saliva. They handed the phials to James and he took them into a secret passage in an unused part of the castle. They had found almost every passageway that they were sure no one else knew about. They had started to make a map of the whole castle and the people inside, but it was very tedious and difficult without being able to get into every room.

As James ran back, he realised the sun was setting inside the dorm room. Remus and Marlene were studying with Lily and Artemis would join them later. They each pressed their wands to their hearts and repeated “Amato Animo Animato Animagus”.

“One down, who knows how many to go” Peter chimed in hopefully. They were all praying to Merlin that there would be a storm soon. They were hoping that they could be done by Sirius’ birthday. It was a very optimistic goal and they all knew it. They always had a giant joint party between Marlene and Sirius and this year would be no different.

It was Marlene’s birthday. It hadn’t been long since they started the incantation twice a day but already Artemis was bored. She had a great day planned for Marlene even though it was a school day. Marlene was awoken to Artemis and Lily standing over her with a large chocolate cake. Marlene eyed them both, expecting the cake to end up on her face somehow. The two girls giggled as they sat on the edge of Marlene’s bed.

“Did you two make this?” Marlene asked cautiously

“Yep, we did it the muggle way as well, I had to explain everything to Art” laughed Lily, her eyes sparkling more than they had in months. Exams were taking their toll on everyone but especially Lily. Severus had been avoiding her more and more. Everyone had warned her and she was finally realising what he was doing.

“I had to explain to our dearest Lily Flower that we could have used magic to help with the cake because we are” Artemis lowered he voice “witches” she whispered with a gasp. They all burst out laughing almost sending the cake flying.

They gave Marlene her presents which she adored. All the girls in the dorm had pitched in to get her a gift basket form Honeydukes which included all her favourite treats, Lily had given her a photo book filled with a mix of magical and muggle photos of all her friends. Marlene was crying with laughter as she saw photos of her at the first quidditch celebration party where she didn’t realise how strong firewhiskey was and proceeded to dance on the tables before James carried her off. Finally, Artemis handed over her present with shaking hands. It was a small and neatly wrapped box. Marlene carefully ripped the paper off and looked inside. It had a small hair pin which was delicately decorated with crystal blue flowers. It was perfect for Marlene’s hair and she was staring at it in awe.

“It’s also enchanted. It will never fall out of your hair and if you tap the main flower it will collect all of your hair and pin it all up” Artemis explained. Marlene placed the pin into her ringlets and shook her head violently. The pin held. They girls all tried different ways to shake it out or grab it but nothing worked. Marlene tested the ability to hold all her hair up by tapping it. Suddenly all her hair was collected in a bun at the base of her neck, decorated with small blue flowers. She giggled and took the pin out, expecting the hair to fall out with it but it held. She had shocked look on her face as she shook her hair. The bun held until she physically took it down. All the girls were staring at the pin in awe.

“How did you get this?” Marlene asked, still in shock.

“My mum’s family all had very curly hair, we have tons of things like this lying around the house” Artemis responded calmly. It may have been only half true but Marlene never needed to know. It was true that they had many things like it lying around the house, but when Artemis decided to give her one she had spoken to her mother about it. All the pins they had in the house did different things which would have been good, but none of them would have perfectly suited Marlene. Artemis had custom created this one with the help of her mother to suit her best friend. She wanted it to stay in for when she was flying or dancing as she usually did but it had to look good as well. Artemis had seen how much Marlene struggled to get her hair up and for it to stay in when she was training so Artemis decided that it would help her. Judging by the reaction, she did well.

For the rest of the day Marlene wore the pin in her hair and smile every time she touched it. Artemis felt warm every time she saw Marlene with it in her hair. From the boys Marlene got more sweets from Peter and Remus, James and Sirius teamed up to get her the best beater’s gloves and a new bat. Marlene squealed and hugged them tightly when they gave them to her. James and Sirius tried to brush it off as nothing, but both were bright red. As the day went on, the sky grew darker and cloudier. Everyone ignored it as the Scottish weather was known to be unpredictable. The Marauders looked at each other and grinned as there was a rumble of thunder heard in the common room. They couldn't believe their luck. They excused themselves as Marlene pouted about her friends leaving her, they promised to bring back something fun.

James sprinted as fast as he could to where he had stashed the potions as the rest of them subtly walked out of the castle. It was still technically before curfew so they were still safe, but it was late so Filch would be on the lookout. They had made sure to grab the cloak before leaving so that they could get back easier. They walked to the edge of the forest where they couldn’t be seen. James joined them soon after they arrived. As lighting flashed above them, they took their blood red potions. They had, thankfully, labelled their phials and took them gratefully from James.

“Ready boys!” James yelled. She held her wand to her heart as the boys did the same,

“Amato Animo Animato Animagus” they all said together.

The lighting flashed above them, and they downed the potions. It tasted strangely like chocolate and mint but it was thick like sludge. It coated Artemis’ throat and she forced herself to drink it. She felt the potion reach her stomach and settle at the pit of her stomach. She felt a burning pain in her chest like something was trying to escape. She attempted to muffle her scream as she felt her second heartbeat thunder in her chest. She couldn’t breathe and her entire body was burning up. She saw an animal in her head. She felt her bones change and her body shrink. Her arms expanded and she felt her feet curl up. She looked up from where she was stood and noticed three very confused looking animals staring at her. A stag with glasses like markings, a small rat and a black dog. Artemis tried to work out which one was which. She assumed, due to the markings that James was the stag, Sirius had dark hair and dog energy, so she assumed he was the dog which left Peter as the rat. By the panicked looks on their faces, she assumed that they didn’t realise she was the hawk. Merlin those boys could be dumbasses sometimes she thought to herself.

She decided to test her abilities. She flapped her arms or wings as they now were and attempted to fly. She very quickly realised that it was harder than it looked. She tried to hop onto some rocks to have a higher vantage point. The wind picked up in the rain and she felt it run though her feathers. Carefully spreading her wings, she jumped and felt herself hover. She attempted to flap her wings again and instead of falling, she rose slightly. She kept doing it and felt herself raising. For someone who could barely leave the ground on a broom, she was doing well. Holy fucking Merlin she was flying. She looped back and went to find the boys. Focusing on her human form, Artemis changed back into herself. The boys had already managed to change back and were looking everywhere for her. Artemis snuck up behind them and jumped onto James’ back. He drew his wand before realising who it was. He grabbed her into a hug before,

“Where the hell were you? We couldn’t find you and we never saw you change and-“

“James” Artemis cut him off with a stern look before transforming into her hawk. The boys all looked at her in awe when she flew, albeit unsteadily, onto James shoulder. They all laughed, or squawked, as she dug her talons into his shoulder. They decided to miss the next moon as it was the day after Sirius’ birthday. They didn’t want to go in while they were still getting used to their animal forms.

They snuck very carefully under the cloak back to the common room. It was only just past curfew but they would still get in trouble. With everyone much taller, it was far more difficult to get all of them under the cloak and none of them wanted to risk transforming to get back. They made one quick stop to get brownies from the kitchens before finally arriving back. None of them realised that they were soaked through until they walked through the portrait hole and went to give Marlene the brownies

“Thanks for the brownies but if all of you would please stay at least two meters away from me with your wet clothes please, these are new pyjamas and I do not want them ruined” Marlene said as Lily and Gideon laughed. Sirius shook his hair like a dog and laughed as Marlene squealed. After her very warm shower, Artemis went downstairs to join Marlene and Lily. Gideon was there, like he always was. While Lily and Gideon were a good couple, Artemis always questioned it. Gideon was in sixth year and while that was ok, he had more important things to think about. Even while he was with Lily, Artemis noticed his mind wandering or him looking elsewhere. There was something off about him, but Artemis could never work it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays to everyone. Hope you have a good break from hopefully school or work and look after yourself.   
> I have lots more written at the moment and hopefully I'll have another chapter posted by the new year :)  
> -Moony


	10. Yet Another Party

Lily:

Merlin here it was, one of the biggest parties of the year and she had to attend. Lily was never one to turn down a party but at this time of year there were always too many. Lily was very thankful that three rolled into one. This was Marlene’s birthday, Halloween and Sirius’ party. It was decidedly a costume party and Lily, Marlene and Artemis decided to go as muggle mermaids. They added water to their hair and used a spell so it never looked dry but also didn’t feel wet. They each had long dresses with ruffles at the bottom to represent fins. Marlene had given her dress a large slit down the leg so that she could dance and move. They looked stunning and couldn’t stop laughing when Alice tried to take a photo of them. Once again, Sirius came to their room to get his makeup done. He chose to be the singer David Bowie. Once they were all looking their best, they strutted down the stairs. Lily raised an eyebrow at Remus when he choked on his drink looking at Sirius. Gideon walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek telling her how lovely she looked. He was dressed as some wizarding singer Lily didn’t know. She told him how good he looked but she felt strange about it. He did look good but she couldn’t take her eyes off James Potter as he walked in. Him and Peter had come as a centaur. Peter was the rear end and was using this as an opportunity to attempt to trip Remus and Sirius up. James on the other hand, he was shirtless and holding a fake bow and arrow. His muscles seemed to be more defined than last time she saw him. She quickly took her gaze away before either her Gideon or James noticed her stare. She planted a kiss on Gideon’s lips before dragging him over to get some drinks.

Everyone drank and danced the night away. Eventually all the younger years had left leaving only the fifth, sixth and seventh years. They were all very drunk and doing whatever they pleased without judgement. Alice and Frank were heavily snogging before sneaking away to Frank’s dorm. The rest of the boys in Frank’s dorm shared a look and rolled their eyes. It was a usual occurrence for them to find Alice sneaking out in the mornings. Lily laughed with Gideon about it as the girls had to pretend not to notice Alice sneaking in when Marlene went for a run. Gideon led Lily over to a sofa in the corner of the common room. He kissed her more passionately than he had ever done before. Lily was caught off guard and eventually fell into the rhythm of it all. His tongue was in her mouth making her moan softly. She had her hands in his hair pulling him closer to her. His hand slid down to her waist as he pulled her closer still. They kept snogging passionately until they heard a yell. They both snapped apart to look at what had happened. Turns out, Sirius Black can not do the splits. They laughed hysterically and curled up on the small sofa for a while. Lily heard the song change and held his hand and led him to the makeshift dance floor to dance a bit more. They were back to laughing and dancing after their moment in the corner. She was twirling around with her skirt flowing around her feet like water. She looked up and stopped twirling. All she could see was Sirius Black with his lips attached to Fabien Prewett.

Lily excused herself from her dancing. She looked all around the common room for Remus. She saw the rest of the Marauders along with Marlene and Artemis with smirks on their faces. The girls had seen Sirius and Fabien and James subtly handed them some coins. Lily excused herself and ran up to the boys dorm to see Remus go into the bathroom, eyes glistening.

“Remus, please come out” Lily begged “I’m alone so please come out”. He opened the door and despite the tear in his eyes he had a small smirk on his face

“Lily I’m gay. There you go I came out” he said through small giggles and closed the door again. Lily groaned at the horrible joke.

“Remus please, I know it’s painful for you but you need to come back to the party” she pleaded. Remus opened the door and collapsed onto his bed. Lily sat next to him, rubbing his back in small circles. He sobbed into her shoulder as she hugged him. He mumbled something about being pathetic and Lily quickly shushed him. She grabbed a chocolate bar from his bedside table and handed it to him. Quietly he ate the chocolate and watched as Lily did some cosmetic spell to fix his face that was now red and splotchy.

“Do you want to come back downstairs or do you want me to tell them you feel sick?” Lily asked kindly. He didn’t respond and just rolled himself under his quilt. Lily was giggling at him when Artemis walked in.

“Hey Lil, do you mind if I talk to Remus alone?” she blurted out. Lily gave Remus one last half hug before leaving to find Gideon again.

* * *

Artemis:

Artemis locked the door as Lily left and sat on the edge of Remus’ bed. She took a deep breath in before saying,

“Remus I saw the way you looked at Sirius tonight” Remus blushed and tried to hide under his pillow. He was expecting the worst when Artemis took another deep breath “And I understand how you feel. If you tell anyone about what I’m about to tell you I will rip your balls off.” Remus looked horrified at that thought “I think I like someone who I shouldn’t and I can’t tell anyone. I can’t tell you who it is but you can probably guess and I feel pathetic but I’m so confused and yeah” she blurted out so fast Remus barely caught it. Remus hugged her tight at the revelation. They talked for a little while longer about how pitiful they are and laughed at the money she had made from Sirius liking guys. They had made the bet in second year and her and Marlene were very happy for the money. After talking for almost an hour, their peace was interrupted,

“Remus why is this door locked! I swear to Merlin if you are fucking my sister I will rip your balls off” James screamed. Artemis laughed at the repeated threat of ripping his balls off as Remus put his hands over his lap. She unlocked the door to show herself fully clothed. James hugged Artemis before dragging Sirius and Peter into the room behind him. It seemed that James had chosen now to announced that they had become Animagi as the next thing she knew there was a stag, rat and dog on their beds. Remus looked like he was ready to faint. The boys had clearly planned this out so that Artemis had to be the one to explain.

“Hey Remus, so we’ve become animagi because in animal form the wolf can’t harm us and animals can help calm the wolf down. Happy Halloween bye” Artemis explained before attempting to open the door. A very cross looking stag had blocked the door. Artemis rolled her eyes and changed into her hawk form. She had been practicing flying over the past few days and flew carefully over to land on Remus’ head.

“Hey” said a now human James “How come you don’t dig your talons into him?”

Artemis shrugged, or attempted to as Remus laughed. His face showed pure joy and he seemed to be crying.

“You did this all for me? Thank you all so fucking much. Shit, did you do this legally, of course not you’re too young oh fuck you could go to Azkaban” Remus rambled as the rest of them came to hug him. Artemis, still in hawk form, hopped onto his leg before transforming back to jump to the floor. The boys looked in awe at how graceful she already was in her form. They were still stumbling and falling.

“So everyone we need nicknames. Remus is obviously Moony so we need some as well” Peter announced.

“They should have something to do with our animal form” Artemis suggested

“Good idea dearest Arty” James responded, using her childhood nickname

“Oh course ickle Jamesie” Artemis quipped back, using the nickname James had as a child.

“Brat”

“Ass”

“Dickhead”

“Cun- “

“Stop it you two” Sirius said sternly, causing the twins to back down “What about Prongs for James? Like the prongs of his antlers”

“Bambi is better I think” Remus laughed. Everyone nodded and laughed as James pouted.

“Prongs is good and I will die if you call me Bambi” James said.

“Prongs it is then” Sirius announced.

“I think Fluffy for Sirius, because he’s soft and fluffy” Remus suggested while he ruffled Sirius’ hair.

“I swear to fucking Merlin I will kill you if you call me Fluffy” Sirius growled, causing everyone to laugh

“Pete has to be Wormtail, like his rat tail” James said.

“That just sounds like I have a weird cock” Peter laughed.

“Artemis has to be Talons. She stabs us with them” Sirius explained.

“Then there we have it, Moony, Wormtail, Talons, Fluffy and Prongs” Remus announced.

“Not Fluffy” Sirius pouted.

They hugged Remus and assured him that they were safe. He fell asleep surrounded by his best friends. Artemis snuck back to her own room but not before pulling a blanket over Marlene, who had been left cold and alone on the sofa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New year everyone! Hope you have had a good time. I am once again stuck at home so expect a lot more chapters over the next few days  
> -Moony


	11. The First Moon

Artemis:

Tonight was the night. Their first full moon with Remus. They had their plan. Remus would go to the shack as usual with Pomfrey and the rest would join him after. They would leave the cloak in the tunnel before entering through the trapdoor before Remus changed. They were given the time by Remus who was dropped off an hour before moonrise. As they walked down to the shack, they realised how hard it was to manoeuvre two tall teenage boys along with a short one and Artemis who sat at an awkward in between. They decided that Peter and Artemis would transform, and James and Sirius would carry them.

As they made their way through the tunnel, Artemis noticed Peter lagging behind. She wrapped her arm around him,

“We can do this Pete, if you need help run towards me and I’ll carry you somewhere safe, I promise I won’t bite” She laughed. Their animals were normally enemies but together they worked well. Peter smiled at Artemis with a newfound confidence. They were strange friends, they talked all the time in herbology and shared many classes but Artemis always felt like there was something they all didn’t know. They walked into the shack to see Remus sitting on a bed, wringing his hands anxiously. They knew he was nervous and questioning the plan but they had managed to keep him sane.

The small clock behind a protective spell chimed. Artemis turned around as Remus stripped and put his clothes and wand behind the shield. It had a small fire to keep him warm as well. He said it was ok for her to turn around as he wrapped a sheet around himself. She turned and went to ruffle his hair playfully. He laughed slightly before grimacing in pain.

“Change now, please, don’t watch this. Plea- “Remus yelled as all of them changed, cut off by a roar of pain. The sheet he had wrapped around himself was now torn as the wolf ripped through Remus. His whole body contorted in a scream of pain and then. It stopped. A large wolf was stood staring at Sirius and James, now in animal form. Artemis, now holding Peter in her talons, dropped down to leave Peter on James’ shoulder before sitting herself on the half-destroyed banister. Moony, as they had named the wolf, stared at them all with a look of confusion on his face. He carefully walked over to sniff at Sirius and James while they stood perfectly still. Apparently if they showed no fear then the wolf wouldn’t hurt them.

After what felt like 10 long minutes, Moony stood back and pounced onto Sirius. It was not a malicious attack but one of play. Eventually, a game of tag seemed to start. Moony would playfully swipe at James and Sirius and attempt to jump for Artemis. She flew above it all and distracted Moony when he got too rough so the boys could rest. They played around in the small space and narrowly avoided breaking a wall when Moony hit James a little too hard. Peter seemed to have a surge of confidence as he ran and climbed onto Moony’s head. Moony tried to look up but ended up falling backwards, onto the bed but away from James as he stood up unsteadily. The stag shook his head as he raised up. From then on, they tried to calm Moony down. Sirius led him onto the bed of the house and curled up. The two dogs laid down on the bed as Moony grew tried. Artemis and James shared a look as the breathing of the two settled. Those two could always calm each other down.

As long as Artemis had known him, Sirius could not sleep alone. Whenever he was able to visit the Potter Manor, he always slept when he arrived. They never questioned it as they knew how harsh the Black family could be to their children let alone those who were considered traitors. They noticed that Sirius always woke up when they left the room. If he couldn’t hear someone else in the room, he woke up. James and Artemis had noticed this and made sure someone was with him. Athena often ended up curling up on his chest as the cat seemed to love him. James, Artemis and occasionally Marlene when she stayed, always found excuses to sleep in the same room as Sirius. Whether that be that they wanted to talk and accidently fell asleep, that the girls had a sleepover night and James felt left out or just that they missed him and were becoming clingy. They wanted to protect him. Seeing him falling asleep with Moony made Artemis feel so happy for them but she knew that this wouldn’t last.

She let James fall asleep at the base of the bed as he was in a lot of pain. Her and Peter had taken to seeing where she could fly him to so that they could explore the shack more. It was much larger than it appeared and there were lots of small off rooms for people. There was a small upper room which had no entrance other than flying through a small gap which would have been a door if it hadn’t collapsed. Artemis made a mental note to stash some healing things up there to help if they ever got very badly injured.

When the moon was setting, Moony awoke with a howl of pain which made all of them suddenly snap awake. Peter was dozing on James’ back while Artemis was perched on a beam in the ceiling. She flew down and attempted to lift the destroyed bed sheet to give to Remus for some privacy. His body contorted back to human form as stag James and dog Sirius carried the sheet to him. They all turned as they heard Remus groan and wrap the sheet carefully around him.

“Are you all ok? What did I do to you?” Remus hurriedly asked everyone before looking at all his friends and realised why they were still turned. He grabbed his clothes from behind the safety barrier and dressed. When he cleared his throat pointedly, the boys cautiously turned before giving Artemis the all clear. During her years of walking into their dorm unannounced she had seen far worse than Remus naked but this was different. Remus hugged all of them as they changed back into human form.

“So what did we end up doing?” He asked as his eyes widened at James’ bloody shoulder and pointed.

“Don’t worry about this, I tried to walk up the stairs and failed miserably” James answered the unasked question. Artemis and Peter both nodded as Remus laughed slightly. They filled him in on the night and how he fell asleep after playing with them all. They were still laughing when Remus noticed the time. The sunrise was at almost eight and Pomfrey would be there soon. They all snuck out of the shack under the cloak before running back to their dorms. As they were walking back, Artemis noticed a cat sat outside watching the tree, but that wasn’t abnormal, cats were all around Hogwarts. Artemis showered as fast as she could before changing into her school robes. She yawned as the adrenaline from the night wore off. She quickly healed James’ shoulder as well as she could before they ran to lesson. McGonagall looked at them sternly and told them to see her after lesson. At the end of the lesson, McGonagall asked them how they all were like she usually did when they were late or tired due to full moons. She wanted to keep up her appearance of a stern teacher, but she loved them too much to punish them for caring.

“You all must understand that Remus has the best care and will be perfectly safe” She said with as she looked over the tired eyes,

“Of course Minnie but you can’t blame us for worrying” Sirius responded, McGonagall seemed to suppress a smile.

“Yes Mr Bl- Sirius, but I do hope you learn to sleep on nights like these” She responded, changing the name when she saw the pain on Sirius’ face as she called him Mr Black.

They finished their lessons, barely staying awake before going to their dorms, and falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is fairly short however the chapters I am writing now are far far longer as I got carried away.  
> Hope you enjoyed  
> -Moony


	12. The Start Of The Holidays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small warning that this chapter does feature some talk of cancer and family illness. Nothing major but it is there

Lily:

The holidays had come faster than she wanted. Lily was not looking forwards to going home unlike everyone else at Hogwarts it appeared. She reread the letters from her family:

_Dearest Lily,_

_I hope that this gets to you, we followed all the instructions you left us last time about getting a letter to you without an owl. I must admit that I am slightly disappointed at your lack of letters this year but I understand you have exams to focus on or is there someone distracting you? Ignore me I’m just being a romantic. I am sure you will hear all about Petunia’s new boyfriend over these holidays, I must admit I am not too fond of him, but she seems to like him. There I go prattling on again. The reason for this letter is that I wanted to say I sincerely hope you come home for Christmas. Your father has taken ill but I would rather discuss this with you when you are home._

_I love you my little Lily,_

_Mum_

Tears sprung to Lily’s eyes despite knowing the contents of the letter off by heart. She took the second letter out of the envelope. She knew who it was from and yet she hadn’t the courage to read it. She carefully unfolded the small letter,

_Lily_

_Come home. I don’t particularly want a freak like you to meet Vernon but dad insists that we are all together as a family. Don’t mention any of your freakiness to Vernon. He is respectable and I don’t want him to think less of me because of you._

_Petunia_

Lily felt anger boil under her skin. She picked up her trunk and stormed down the stairs into the common room. The girls looked at her in with confusion as she ripped up the letter and threw it into the fire with a small scream. Gideon walked cautiously over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Lily dissolved into sobs as her hugged her tight.

“Lily, what was in that letter?” he asked quietly

“My fucking sister is making me meet her fucking boyfriend. She doesn’t even want me there but I have to make a good fucking impression” Lily screamed. The fifth years and the few sixth years that were left all knew about Lily’s situation with her sister. They had seen the letters burn. They had heard Lily cursing pillows in the dorm and had walked into feathers falling to ash on the floor. Lily was the most patient and kind person they had ever met, but holy fuck did she have a temper when it came to her sister.

No one mentioned the letter as they crammed into a carriage on the train. Everyone had decided to go home or had been forced to in the case of Sirius, and therefore the carriage was becoming more cramped every year. Sirius was sat next to the window, scowling out at the landscape, Remus was next to him reading his book, James was next to him with Artemis squashed between him and Peter. On the opposite side, Mary and Dorcas were sat opposite Peter, with Mary and Peter blushing every time they made eye contact, Frank and Gideon were sat with their girlfriends perched on their legs and Fabien and Marlene were forced to sit on the floor. The owls and cats were sat in their cages above the carriage, some were flying home, but some of the older ones had to taken back on the train. While it was a funny sight to see at the start, it became increasingly uncomfortable as they all grew restless. Eventually, Frank and Gideon said goodbye to their girlfriends and left to find their own compartment with Fabien. Alice left after half an hour to go join Frank. The girls raised their eyebrows as she walked out with a smirk. With the extra space, they began to talk amongst themselves. Artemis and Marlene helped Sirius charm his earrings so that his mother wouldn’t rip his ears off. Lily sat contemplating what would happen when she got home. Would her father be on his death bed or would he be ok? Would her sister ignore her or berate her the whole holiday?

“Don’t forget everyone the annual Potter New Year’s Party is upon us once more” James announced proudly. How could anyone forget about their party. They all went every year, minus Mary and Dorcas. Lily did have an extra incentive this year, as he was a Prewett, Gideon would be there. Lily was excited to see him again. They all agreed to give their Christmas presents at the party like always. This however, excluded Sirius as he couldn’t take anything with him because of his family. They had given him his stuff before they left. The girls gave him a selection of sweets and small joke products form Zonko’s. The girls discussed what they were wearing to the party before the train came to a halt. Lily collected her trunk and bag before taking a deep breath. She walked out of the train with her head held high. She laughed as Mrs. Potter hugged her children tightly as they tried to escape. Artemis shot her an annoyed look as she heard the laughter and James went a violent shade of red.

“Ah Lily dear I cannot wait until I see you at the party, you are the best influence on my children” Euphemia said with a small laugh as Artemis and James looked at her in feigned shock. It was well known that Lily was the friend parents wanted their children to be around.

“You’re underestimate your child” Lily said with a small laugh “I would barely be passing runes without Artemis here”

The girls laughed as James pouted slightly. After saying all of her goodbyes, Lily walked into the muggle platform. She pushed her trolley through the mass of people until she saw her mum waiting by the car. Lily quickly put her trolley away before running to her mum. They shoved her stuff in the car before driving home. It was a long drive in which Lily filled her mum in on all the events. Rose Evans pretended to know what Lily was talking about when she explained her small business of potions for cramps.

When she arrived through the door to her house, Lily took in the familiar space. The walls were covered in photos of the girls growing up along with photos of her parents when they were younger. There were photos of them all in Ireland for Christmas with Lily’s grandparents. That was the last holiday they had together before her letter came, and everything changed. Her parents looked at her like she was the most amazing and majestic person ever. They always supported her and were always asking about her magic even if they didn’t understand it. After some digging, apparently her great-great grandmother was known to do ‘unusual’ things, so they guessed she was a witch who had squib children. Petunia on the other hand, she had cursed Lily out her life. Lily was now ‘the freak’ or ‘the girl’ to Petunia. She only used her name when she needed to be civil or in front of their parents.

“Lily, go up and say hello to your father, he’s in the study” Rose said softly, snapping Lily back to reality. She walked tentatively up the stairs to her father’s small study. It was just about big enough for a desk and a bookshelf but Lily has always loved it. Her father sat in his chair, looking over some formal looking document. He didn’t look good to say the least. His eyes didn’t have the brightness they usually had and he seems thinner than he had before. He looked up as he heard Lily enter the room. His face lit up as he saw his daughter. There was a small twinkle in his eyes and there was a small smile on his face when Lily rushed over. She hugged him tightly as he raised from his chair to meet her. Lily pulled away and noticed what the document on the desk was,

“Da, why is there a will on your desk?” Lily asked with a trembling voice. Her dad was still young wasn’t he? Mum said he was ill but did she really mean that ill?

“My darling Lily, I thought your mum had told you in the letter” he whispered softly. Lily shook her head as tears came to her eyes.

“Lily I have cancer. The doctor says that I should make a full recovery but I wanted to make sure everything was in order, just in case” He said softly. Lily had tears falling down her cheek as he hugged her again.

They walked together down for dinner. The whole family, excluding Petunia who was out with friends, sat down together as Lily filled them in on what had happened at school. He father had a small coughing fit half way through which made Lily’s blood freeze. She explained her small business of potions and tried to explain to her father what a mandrake was. Rose and William tried to understand but even if they didn’t they were in awe. Their beautiful and headstrong child had grown into an even more beautiful and headstrong young woman. Lily told them all about Gideon, and they laughed when she told them he was ginger. It was the picture of a perfect family meal, but it would be the last meal like this.

Christmas day:

Lily woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon cooking downstairs. Lily grabbed her stocking off her door as she knocked on Petunia’s door. She heard a vague groan to indicate that her sister was awake before she ran down the stairs. She plonked her stocking on the sofa before sliding into the kitchen, using her socks as ice skates on the wooden floor. Her mum laughed as she almost slid into the counter. After piling her plate with pancakes and bacon, Lily sat down at the table to eat as many as she could before anyone else could. Petunia walked down with her stocking as she carefully placed it on the sofa next to Lily’s before grabbing a small serving of breakfast. The whole family sat in silence as they ate.

They moved into the living room as the girls opened their stockings. Despite both being older, there was no denying the happiness that Christmas brought them. Lily’s stocking was filled carefully with chocolates, pens and some smaller books. Petunia’s on the other hand was filled with makeup, nail polish and hair pins. Petunia was always the one that cared about her appearance. Even when they were both small, Petunia would always make sure that Lily looked presentable when they went out and now she was older, Lily lived by Petunia’s rules for when she wanted to look fancy. They moved to the presents under the tree. Mostly sent by family members and friends. Lily got some muggle novels from her grandparents and some jumpers from her mum’s friend. Petunia was in the middle of opening her new dresses from her parents when there was a knock at the window. A small brown owl was perched on the windowsill and was tapping it’s beak against the window. Lily rushed over to let it in quickly. There was a small note and parcel attached to the leg.

_Lily_

_I know we said to do presents at the party but your boyfriend would kill me if he saw what I was giving you. I found it in some of mum’s jewellery and it reminded me of your hair. I’m sorry if this is overstepping a boundary but I thought you’d like it._

_J.F.P_

Without even looking at the signature Lily knew who wrote the letter by the handwriting. Swooping letters with flourishes that Lily had grown to know over the years. James Potter had impeccable handwriting which made everyone else jealous. Unlike Sirius, James didn’t reject all of the pureblood habits that had been engraved into his mind over the years. Both him and Artemis has grown up with tutors and etiquette lessons but not to the degree Sirius had. She unwrapped the small box and saw a delicate hair piece with emeralds forming flowers. She stared at it in awe before,

“What is that stupid thing doing here?” Petunia yelled. She glared at the owl and Lily until Lily quickly put the owl in her room. She rushed back downstairs as Petunia was yelling at her parents.

“How dare she ruin this day with her freakiness and that stupid bullshit she calls magic?” Petunia screamed

“Petunia watch your language” William said sternly. Lily turned away and ran back to her room with tears filling her eyes. Her mum yelled something about how Petunia was ruining Christmas for the family but Lily didn’t care, she just sobbed.

Two days later, Lily, Petunia and their parents walked to the restaurant where they were meeting Petunia’s boyfriend. The sisters were still not talking to each other but had agreed with their parents to be civil for the night. The restaurant was fancier than Lily had expected but not too expensive. A man whose face reminded Lily of a walrus waved them over as they walked in. He greeted Petunia with a kiss on the cheek before shaking both Rose and William’s hand. Lily held out her hand. He looked at Petunia as if for permission. She gave a small nod before the man gave Lily a swift handshake. He took his hand away from Lily’s as if she were on fire.

“Hello, everyone I am Vernon Dudley. I work at my father’s drill company where I am extremely successful and make plenty of money” He announced looking very smug. Rose and William shared a quick look before introducing themselves. They ate their food and everyone of age drank their wine calmly. Petunia spent the whole night hanging onto Vernon’s every word and ignoring Lily whenever she attempted to talk. Finally,

“So Lily, I hear you go to boarding school, what’s that like?” Vernon asked her with a sly look on his face.

“Oh, well I find it wonderful. We learn lots and the teachers are all lovely” Lily replied politely. Petunia gave her a harsh stare to warn her not to mention magic at all.

“Where is your _school?”_ Vernon challenged her

“Well, it’s in the Scottish Highlands and it’s surrounded by forests and hills, and there is a small village we can visit on the weekends” Lily again replied with ease, refusing to antagonise her sister.

Vernon looked annoyed with her not rising to his challenge but backed down when dessert finally arrived. Lily tucked into her slice of chocolate cake, not noticing what Vernon was doing. Lily finally looked up and saw what was on Petunia’s plate. The words ‘Will you marry me?’ were written in chocolate sauce as Vernon was down on one knee. Petunia looked down at him with her mouth still open. She quickly nodded and he slipped the ring onto her finger. Her parents, and many other patrons, congratulated the two. Lily choked out a congratulations before leaving the restaurant.

Her sister was leaving her.

New Year’s Eve

Lily avoided her sister for the rest of the holidays. It wasn’t that hard a Petunia spent most of her time calling her friends to tell them the news or forcing their mum to look at wedding magazines. Rose was excited that her daughter was getting married, but she couldn’t help notice how horrible the man was to everyone around him.

New Year’s eve arrived and Lily could barely contain her joy at finally leaving her sister. Lily would return to her home on the 2nd of January to spend the last few days with her father as Petunia celebrated with her friends. Euphemia Potter arrived at Lily’s house to apparate her to the Potter manor, not before having a cup of tea with Rose who was apparently her new best friend. The women spent almost an hour discussing their daughters and laughing at James’ antics, which Lily had told her mum about. When Lily arrived she was engulfed in a giant hug from Artemis and Marlene before rushing up to her room. The Potter manor was big enough that all the guests could have their own room even if they all piled into one. According to Artemis, she much preferred their cottage in Godric’s Hollow which was much smaller and more homely than the large manor. They often stayed there in the summer and Lily always had a standing invitation.

The three girls grabbed their dresses and went into Artemis’ dressing room. Apparently now she was older, she was allowed access to all the Potter heirloom jewellery which Lily thought was the most impressive collection she’d ever seen. The girls dressed together, laughing as they went. Lily was wearing a simple red ballgown that flowed around her feet, she had her hair carefully pined back with her hair piece placed carefully on her head. Marlene was in a very formal looking black ballgown that showed off her toned quidditch body perfectly. Her blonde ringlets were framing her face and bounces as she swished her skirt around. Her brothers were wearing dress robes to match her along with their parents for when they greeted the guests. Finally, Artemis, she was wearing a navy ballgown embellished with stars that were enchanted to glisten as she moved. Her hair fell in a sleek curtain down her back with stars seeming to glisten in the darkness of her hair.

The girls walked out of the dressing room after applying simple makeup, as was pureblood appropriate, before meeting their partners for the evening. As they were in 5th year, they were seen as adults who could conduct themselves at formal events and therefore, they could not have their own party like usual. James and Artemis were expected to greet all the guests while the other purebloods were arriving with their parents. Lily was stood awkwardly with Peter, not considered a pureblood due to his mother’s situation, and Remus as Marlene and the Potters greeted all the guests. Remus, in his suit, spotted Sirius first. He was dressed in his most formal dress robes, his hair had been cut as well which made his high cheekbones and sharp jaw seem harsher than they had seen before. His mother pushed him to greet James and Artemis, along with Euphemia and Fleamont, with a stiffness that made Lily uncomfortable.

Many hours later when the twins and Marlene were finally released from their duties, they were dancing. Lily had seen Gideon and had taken to dancing a waltz with him. Lily struggled with dancing and Gideon wasn’t much use as a teacher. They were holding back laugher as they tripped and fell much to the chagrin of the pureblood snobs that were around them. James was doing a beautiful dance with Marlene as Artemis was dancing with Fabien. Remus had taking to dancing with Molly Prewett who was giving her fiancé a break from having his toes broken. Lily had spoken to Molly earlier and had found the girl wonderful conversation and hoped to see her again, she was promised a seat at her wedding. They had joked that they were long lost family with their red hair. Peter was dancing with some Hufflepuff girl Lily recognised from school and was shooting her a pained look as she gripped her nails into his arm to stop herself from falling over after too many glasses of champagne. Alice and Frank had been on the dancefloor earlier, but they had slipped to a quieter spot. It was almost midnight when James gave them the signal to meet in the attic room. It was had windows covering the roof and a small balcony enchanted to keep it warm.

Artemis:

They all walked into the attic room and curled up next to the small fire. Lily was leaning on Gideon to keep herself warm as his arms wrapped around her, Sirius had feigned a stomach problem to escape his mother and was currently undoing all his layers of robes, Alice and Frank had quickly dropped their gifts and were currently making use of an unused room on the second floor and that made everyone grimace and giggle. James was sat with Marlene stealing his suit jacket to cover her freezing cold upper body, Remus was half asleep leaning against Peter who was massaging his arm which he claimed had been attacked by a drunk witch. Molly had dropped off a present for Marlene before going back to join her family in the ballroom. Artemis felt her heart drop as Marlene blushed. Fabien had stayed downstairs to look after his sister and her fiancé and also to cover for them if someone asked about them, it was unlikely due to the alcohol in everyone’s system but it could happen.

Artemis spent most of the gift exchange watching Marlene. It sounded creepy but she couldn’t take her eyes off the girl. She was stunning in her ballgown and her hair looked perfect. She snapped out of her trance when James threw a present at her. She got some new muggle novels from Lily and Remus, some chocolate and sweets from Sirius, a herbology book from Peter about healing properties of rare plants, some quills from Gideon (who looked very uncomfortable) and finally Marlene.

“You got me such a perfect birthday gift, so I thought I’d try and get you something good” Marlene said shyly, it was strange to see her looking so shy. Artemis smiled at her before opening the small box. A bracelet with small beads on it awaited her when she opened it.

“There is one with cypress wood, like your wand. One with moonstone that when you tap it shows the positions of the stars and planets and the one with the bow and arrow on it will form a shield spell for 10 seconds in case you need to get your wand. The rest are decorative but you can change them if you find others that are more useful” Marlene explained. Artemis looked up with tears in her eyes. It was the most beautiful and thoughtful gift she had ever seen. A worried look came over Marlene when she saw the tears.

“It’s perfect” Artemis managed before giving the girl a giant hug. Artemis placed a small box on Marlene’s lap as she sat next to her. It was a larger box that contained a necklace that matched her hair pin. When tapped it emitted a soft blue glow that could light a path for her. The girls curled up together as Artemis felt her heart flutter.

The last person to open their presents was a very impatient looking Lily. Artemis looked at her hair piece in her hair for a moment before realising it was their grandmother’s. Artemis shot a look at James and back to Lily’s hair before raising her eyebrows at him. He blushed and looked away. Lily got some new books from Remus and Peter, her favourite muggle record from Sirius who handed it to her with a wink. Those two had a strange bond but somehow it worked. Artemis got her a new potions box for her business and Marlene had stocked it full of every ingredient she would ever need. Finally, only James and Gideon were left to give their gifts. Lily had given James a muggle novel called Frankenstein with a giggle earlier and she had gotten Gideon a selection of fancy looking muggle pens which she had charmed to never run out. Lily always gave the best muggle gifts. Gideon handed her a rather large box filled with fancy quills and colour changing inks for her notes. Lily hugged him tightly and kissed him on the cheek as he sat there giggling. Finally, James handed Lily a box. It was wrapped carefully but still was messier than the other gifts showing that he wrapped it himself rather than letting an elf do it. Lily opened it, expecting some form of prank or joke to hit her in the face it seemed, but then she finally did open it to reveal a sunflower flower crown.

“If you wear it, the colours change to reflect your emotions” James said calmly despite his shaking hands. Lily smiled down at the crown before carefully placing it on her head. It changed from the bright yellow to a glowing pink. James silently handed her a slip of paper that had the colour meanings. Lily looked down and quickly removed the crown.

It was the countdown to midnight. They stood on the balcony. Marlene and Artemis were sharing a bottle of champagne like Remus and Sirius were. James and Peter were attempting to charm the plants to sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ with very little success. Gideon had wrapped Lily in his arms like Alice and Frank had after joining them again. They counted down as fireworks exploded in the sky. The couples kissed and the rest chugged their champagne. The start of the 1976 was here. If only they knew what would happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a chapter that isn't super short.   
> Take care of yourself  
> -Moony


	13. Careers

Artemis

The weeks after returning to school were filled with late stays at the library with Remus and Lily, long flights around the grounds as a hawk and a fuck tonne of homework. The teachers were piling on the work before their exams. Lily’ birthday came and went with a small celebration and exchange of gifts. She didn’t want anything big and instead the Library three as Sirius had nicknamed them, spent their evening in a secluded corner of the library eating as quiet as they could and doing extra research for their subjects. Lily had spent the day after her birthday talking with Severus and reminiscing on old times. Artemis still hated his guts but Lily convinced her to give him a chance. James, Sirius and Marlene spent more and more time focusing on quidditch to distract themselves from the looming threat of exams but eventually they caved and agreed to spent at least three nights a week studying. Peter had taking to helping Professor Sprout in her greenhouses as he adored the plants. They all thought he would make a perfect herbology professor one day, he was the only one of them who hadn’t killed one of the plants.

One miserable February morning, McGonagall walked over to the fifth years at breakfast and handed each of them a slip of paper.

“You will each be having a meeting with me today to discuss your career options. Here ae each of your times” She said calmly. Each of the fifth years looked at each other with worried looks on their faces. They had all been thinking of the future. All the talk of war and attacks on muggles had made each of them more uncertain about their future. Especially Lily.

Artemis had her meeting first.

As she walked into McGonagall’s office, she noticed that there were biscuits on the desk along with pamphlets and some books.

“Take a seat Miss Potter” The woman said, smiling slightly. It was a disconcerting thing for Artemis to see. “So, have you had any thoughts as to what you want to do with your future and then we’ll discuss your current grades and how they compare to the required ones for NEWTs and going forwards.”

Artemis nodded her head slightly as McGonagall gestured for her to start.

“Well, I was thinking of looking at a career to do with ancient runes such as curse breaking, but with the current situation I was thinking about healing. I find it very interesting and you’ve met my brother and I have had to heal him when he does dumb stuff so I think I’d do well” Artemis rambled out. Laughing slightly as she talked about James, omitting the injuries she healed after the full moons. McGonagall suppressed a smile as James was mentioned as well.

“Well, I agree that with the current situation, the world needs more healers however, curse breakers are also vital. Have you considered being a volunteer healer?” Artemis shook her head at the question. “Ah well many people haven’t. St. Mungo’s has a program for people who want to help but also have their own careers. It is a basic training program run on weekends and can be arranged to take place around your working hours. You may be required to help in emergencies and other than that you will do one shift a month helping the main healers. I did the program as a young witch before I was a teacher here” McGonagall explained. Artemis did think that it was a good idea. She loved curse breaking and being a part time healer would help with the war.

“I would like to do it. Curse breaking and healing, what do I need?” Artemis announced

“Well, the NEWTs needed overlap a fair amount. For curse breaking you need Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions, Charms, Defence and Transfiguration and for the healing program you need Herbology as well. This may seem like a lot, but I can see you are doing very well. According to your teachers you are working at Outstanding level for all your required subjects as well as Astronomy. You have an Exceeds Expectations for History of Magic also. You are an extremely hardworking pupil and I do not doubt that you will do well in your exams” McGonagall said with a soft look on her face. Artemis worked hard in her subjects. She was proud of the work she was doing and tried to keep up the level. Thankfully, she had an excellent memory and retained information well so she was never too worried about her exams. She kept Marlene and Lily sane when they went into ‘Exam mode’.

“Oh, have a biscuit Potter” McGonagall said as Artemis walked out, not before stealing a custard cream. She left with a small wave, feeling very proud of herself.

Next, was James. James walked into the meeting knowing what he was going to say. He sat down opposite McGonagall and waited.

“So, Mr Potter, have you had any thoughts as to what you want to do with your future and then we’ll discuss your current grades and how they compare to the required ones for NEWTs and going forwards.” She said, mirroring her previous talk with his twin. Some days she found it hard to believe the two were siblings, then Artemis ended up in detention for hexing someone who was hurting a first year and she remembered.

“An Auror” James answered with no hesitation. McGonagall stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

“Well Potter, you will need at least exceeds expectations in Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms. While I have no doubt that you will achieve this at OWL level, I must remind you that at NEWT level you must focus and you cannot rely on natural talent to get you through. You must be prepared for hard work here at Hogwarts let alone in the academy” McGonagall explained to him. James took it all in and for once paid full attention to what she was saying. “However, I must also offer some other options for you, you are extremely good at transfiguration, have you considered working on the advancement of transfiguration?”

“Professor, with all due respect, with all the bullshi- bad stuff happening in the world, who cares if transfiguration is advanced when the whole world is in ruins because of the muggle attacks. They’re rising professor and those so called ‘Death Eaters’ will destroy everything we care about if we don’t fight back so no offence but transfiguration is worthless at this point!” James yelled. He was standing up in his chair and breathing heavily as he finally admitted what was happening to the world. They tried to ignore it, hide the worst of it from Lily and Mary but they couldn’t deny that the world was getting harder for muggleborns. Mary pretended it didn’t happen and ignored the fact her parents may send her to Beauxbatons next year to keep her safe.

“Have a biscuit Potter” McGonagall ignored his comments and continued “I think it is good to be passionate and this passion will be put to good use in the next year or so but for now, focus on your studies. You will make a great auror Potter”

James walked out solemnly. There was so much going through his head he didn’t even notice that McGonagall wasn’t talking about the auror program.

Sirius walked in next. He would never admit it, but he was terrified. As he walked in, McGonagall gestured for him to take a seat and started her spiel,

“So, Sirius, have you had any thoughts as to what you want to do with your future and then we’ll discuss your current grades and how they compare to the required ones for NEWTs and going forwards.”

“Can I be blunt professor?” She nodded “I honestly don’t know. I was raised to believe that I would become a ministry man who got his way through blackmail and favours. Only this Christmas I was told that I was no longer expected to do that as my brother was now the favoured child” Sirius explained sadly. Many time McGonagall had spoken to him about his family, she may pretend to be a stern teacher, but she did care for her students.

“Have a biscuit Sirius. I have also been thinking about your, situation. I believe that with your high grades and personal relationships, that you would be a perfect auror. I understand if you disagree due to your family but-“  
“I’ll do it Minnie” She suppressed a smile at the nickname “I want to stop this war. I don’t care if I have to fight my own family, all the more reason to do so” Sirius announced.

“So, like your friend Mr Potter I have no doubt that you will do well in your exams and with hard work I know that you will achieve the grades required for the auror program however, you must understand that due to your family ties there is a chance they will not accept you”  
Sirius nodded solemnly, “Well the requirements are at least exceeds expectations in Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms. At the moment you are on track to get an outstanding in all of these excluding herbology and potions but I believe that you will get these with work”

“Thanks Minnie” Sirius said grabbing another biscuit, his confidence returned.

McGonagall looked at her list, next was the meeting she dreaded the most.

Remus Lupin walked into McGonagall’s office wringing his hands, he looked exhausted as the moon was only a few days earlier. McGonagall pushed the plate of chocolate biscuits closer to him and he gladly accepted them.

“Remus, as you know, your situation is more difficult than the rest of your peers. Due to your illness, certain careers are not viable despite your high academic abilities. So, have you had any thought about careers?” McGonagall said with sadness in her voice. Remus was an ideal student but he could never hold down the jobs he could get.

“Well professor” Remus swallowed his biscuit, “I have had some thought. I don’t know how well it would work but I was thinking of teaching or tutoring. I already have a plan for being away at full moons, I will claim to be doing personal research into the affect of the full moon on magic, and I have been told I am a good teacher. Also Miss Evans is offering to work on the wolfsbane potion to help me” McGonagall did not hide her shock at his plan. It was wonderful and incredibly well thought out.

“Well Remus, that is a wonderful plan and there is never a shortage of young wizards and witches who need some extra help and I have spoken to Dumbledore and he has said that you would make a fine addition to the teaching staff here if you would ever consider it” Remus’ mouth was hanging open at this knowledge. “And Remus, we will always be here to help you. Your grades are not a worry however I would suggest tutoring some of the younger years for some experience if you have chance. I will pass your name onto a few of my more challenged students”

Remus grabbed one last biscuit before thanking McGonagall and leaving. She would reveal her true plan later, for now he can focus on educating the younger years.

Peter was next, a short conversation, he explained that he was hoping to be a herbologist and was already helping Sprout with her plants. McGonagall explained that he would have to improve some of his grades a little more but his herbology grade was perfect and he was highly praised by Sprout. He walked out looking happy. He didn’t need to know why they needed extra plants for healing potions not made in school.

Marlene had a quick meeting. Between her grades and family ties, she was certain to be accepted into the auror program, after all her mother was now head auror. Marlene also expressed her ambition to play professional quidditch if the war ends by the time she graduated, but she was not hopeful.

Finally was Lily Evans.

Lily walked into McGonagall’s office with a confidence she hadn’t known she possessed.

“So, Miss Evans, have you had any thoughts as to what you want to do with your future and then we’ll discuss your current grades and how they compare to the required ones for NEWTs and going forwards.” McGonagall explained as she did for everyone else.

“Well, I have ambitions to become a medical potioneer. I love creating and working with potions and I also love healing, this combines them. Professor Slughorn introduced me to the head potioneer at St. Mungo’s before one of his gatherings and he already has a job lined up for me. My only concern is the growing tensions for muggleborns but I am hoping that my grade and recommendations will help me” Lily announced. McGonagall was not shocked that she wanted to go into potions and from what she heard from Remus she was already successful.

“So, from what I have heard from your teachers, you are working at outstanding in all your subjects which, can I say is an incredible achievement you should be very proud. At NEWT level I recommend you take, Potions Charms, Defence, Herbology, Transfiguration and any other subjects that you enjoy, I believe that you will do well not matter what you do Miss Evans. Potioneers are becoming very sought after at the moment and I am sure you will do meaningful work ” McGonagall said. Lily didn’t think too hard about the last part, she would not understand it yet.

“Thank you Professor” Lily said as she walked out the door.

The fifth years went back to the boy’s dorm to discuss their meetings. None of them noticing the subtle messages by McGonagall. None of them truly ready to face the truth yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked writing about Sirius. I'm thinking of writing some one shots from Sirius' perspective. I doubt anyone is actually reading this but let me know if you'd be interested in them  
> -Moony


	14. Quidditch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for injury description

Artemis:

It was a week after the careers meetings and the fifth years were feeling the pressure. Each of them had set their personal goals to achieve what they needed. The fifth years had joined the seventh years in stressing out about their exams. Their map of the whole school with the pupils included was put on hold to focus on exam charms rather than their own. Using Peter’s animagus form they had mapped the whole school but struggled with the charm. Lily and Remus had accidentally patrolled the corridors for an hour longer than they should have because they got so caught up in quizzing each other, James and Artemis were meeting every other evening to revise together and beg Frank for his old notes, Sirius and Marlene had taken to duelling to practice their defence practical at any opportunity along with quizzing each other as they worked and Peter had been meeting Mary to revise Herbology together, both had a passion for plants. They had almost been so engrossed in their work that they forgot about the Gryffindor Slytherin match, almost.

“Come on people we have a match to win” James yelled at the quidditch team “If we beat the snakes all we have to do is beat Ravenclaw in April and we’ve won”

The common room glared at him. It was six am and despite only the quidditch team and a few friends in the room, it was too early for James’ enthusiasm. Artemis had grown up with his quidditch obsessed ways, but it still hurt to be awoken so early. The chasers, James, a fourth year called Andrew Price and their captain Henry Jones were stood carefully going over their plays. The beaters Molly and Marlene were stood hitting balls of parchment at the others with varying holds on their bat, the keeper, Sirius was attempting to catch as many of the balls of parchment as he could while letting some hit James on the head. Finally, their seeker, a small but agile third year named Annie McElwain was sat fiddling with her practice snitch.

Henry led the team down the breakfast while the friends slowly walked behind them. Peter was slowly trudging behind them holding up Mary who had decided to join them. Lily and Remus were half asleep after a late patrol last night and were being kept awake by Artemis poking them when they walked too slowly. Some of the other team member’s friends were in similar positions to the group of fifth years.

When they arrived at the Great Hall after what felt like the longest walk ever, the quidditch team were eating healthy and fuelling food for the long match ahead whereas the rest of them were eating anything that would keep them awake. Artemis handed two cups of coffee to Lily and Remus who were falling asleep into their toast. Artemis grabbed a fried egg and passed it to Peter who was too focused talking to Mary about their new herbology project. Artemis drank her tea and ate her cereal slowly as she gradually woke up. She was just finishing her cup of tea as the Slytherin team walked in.

“Look who decided to have one last meal before we destroy them” the Slytherin captain, Jonathan Bulstrode, said. He was a daunting figure stood over the Gryffindor team. Sirius stood to hit him as both Marlene and James grabbed him. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife as the two teams stared at each other. Finally, after what felt like hours, Lily cleared her throat and shot Sirius a warning look. He knew he had to back down to avoid the wrath of Lily.

“Aw the ickle blood-traitor has a mudblood pet. You know what they say about mudbloods right? That they’re all easy to fuc-“

He was cut off by three spells flying his way. His mouth was moving but making no noise, his arms were bound to his sides and his legs had turned to jelly. Marlene, Remus, and James were stood, wands pointed at Bulstrode.

“Shut the fuck up Bulstrode” Remus growled. It was rare to see Remus so angry, his eyes were wild and dark, his voice was low and full of hatred and he had no hesitation. He was deadly like this.

“Just because all your family are cousins doesn’t mean that others want to be as inbred as you” James spat. He was livid. His eyes turned darker and his face hardened. The usual laughter on his face was gone without a trace. Marlene released the spells off him, but not before kicking him as hard as she could in the balls. He yelled out in pain as the Slytherins sulked to their own table, just before the first few professors entered. Artemis held Lily’s hand as they sat in silence. Lily had dealt with so much shit from all the Slytherins. Due to her nature, she had it worse than any other muggleborn Artemis knew of. She had learnt to deal with it, but it still stung. Mary had moved next to the two girls as Remus moved to sit next to Peter, presumably to plan revenge. They spent breakfast in silence before the team was given the 10-minute call time. They forced themselves to have some team spirt. Lily used a spell to add gold streaks in her already Gryffindor red hair, Artemis had her face painted in red and gold, Mary had decided to dress all in red and gold, so she was fine. Peter and Remus had charmed a large banner of a lion to sing the names of all the players and were carrying it down to set up at the pitch before the match started.

The game had started. Remus had been asked to be the commentator after an ‘incident’ from the previous one showing up after a party had continued far later than expected.

“Hello everyone and welcome to the Slytherin versus Gryffindor match. This is the match we’ve been waiting for all year.” Remus announced, Artemis thought he was a natural.

“Alright, here we go. The captains have just shaken hands or were they trying to rip each other’s hands off”

“Lupin” McGonagall warned.

“Of course professor. Let’s get this started shall we” a cheer went up int the crowds “The quaffle has been tossed and Potter gets it and is racing up the pitch, he passes to Price who has been flying very well for his first season. Passed back to Potter, to Jones back to Potter and Potter scores. Ten to nothing for Gryffindor. They didn’t even have a chance to fight back”

“Slytherin chaser has got control of the quaffle, he shoots and it is once again blocked by Sirius who is doing a marvellous job as keeper as usual”

The match continued and Artemis watched the Slytherin crowd grow more hostile as they fell behind. She also noticed Lily watching James closely as he played. Artemis had to admit she was jealous of his quidditch skills.He moved fluidly and like it was second nature. She thought to herself that he should have been the hawk.

“Alright everyone the match has been going for an hour and Jones has called a time out for his team. The current score is one hundred and twenty to seventy to Gryffindor with still no sight of the snitch. As we’ve got some time let me tell you about the players. Slytherin captain Jonathan Bulstrode” there were boos from the crowd “Has been playing beater since his third year and will be graduating this year along with the Gryffindor captain Henry Jones. Gryffindor captain Henry Jones has also been playing as a chaser since his third year and was appointed to captain in his sixth year. Ahem, I have been told to also mention that he is single and looking for someone”

“Lupin I will not hesitate to take over from this myself”

“Yes McGonagall. Oh here we are anyway and the teams are coming back on. Potter again gets the quaffle, passes to Price who narrowly avoids being hit by a bludger, passes to Potter, back to Jones and oh a well timed bludger sends the quaffle out of the arms of the Gryffindor captain and into the arms of Nott. Passes to Parkinson, back to Nott who shoots and blocked by Black, the Gryffindor one that is. The younger Black has still shown no sign of seeing the snitch. DeRose send a Bludger at Nott while Potter and Jones are back to passing the quaffle between them. Potter throws upwards to Price as he flies towards the goals and it’s in. 130 to 70 for Gryffindor. Nott has the quaffle and a well timed hit from McKinnon has him flying into Jones to avoid being smacked in the face. Nott loses the quaffle to Jones as he avoids falling. Jones has the quaffle and passes to Potter. McElwain has seen the snitch and is hurtling towards it. Neck in neck with Black, younger, Potter is still going down the pitch at top speed. Bulstrode hits a bludger at Potter. Nott has grabbed Potter’s broom as the bludger is flying his way. Shit”

James:

He was going to score one last goal; this would put them in the lead for the house cup as well. He hears someone yell as Nott grabs his broom. He can’t move. He was frozen in place as a bludger hurtles towards him.

Falling. Blood. Pain.

The ground rushes to meet him. The world goes dark.

Lily:

The sight of James Potter falling made Lily’s heart drop. She could be sick. The bludger has cracked his head so much on impact that it was bleeding as he fell. It seemed to go in slow motion. Remus swearing on the microphone, McGonagall not caring, and Lily could have sworn she heard she heard her swear too. The way Nott held onto James’ broom had overtaken the fact that Annie had caught the snitch. No one cared. Lily and Artemis had tried to slow his fall but they couldn’t. She thought Dumbledore did it but she couldn’t be sure. She clung to Gideon throughout the game due to the cold she always seemed to feel but now she clung to Artemis. As he hit the ground, Artemis ran. Lily was struggling to keep up as she yelled for people to move. Artemis pushed people over to get to her brother. She pushed past the professors as she ran to him. Lily was holding Artemis back the same way Marlene was holding back Sirius. Pomfrey was working to stop most of the damage but there was so much.

James:

Blood. Crack. Artemis yelling. Lily yelling. Sirius yelling. McGonagall yelling. Marlene yelling. Jones yelling. Darkness.

Artemis:

She looked at the sight of her brother. Pomfrey had taken him to the hospital wing three hours ago and she hadn’t left his side. Even as the bloodied robes were cut off him. Even as she watched him screaming in his sleep when the bones were healed in his leg. Even as she watched his skull knit itself back together. Even as Pomfrey had moved him to stop him choking in his sleep. Artemis did not leave.

Her brother was a reckless dumbass. She couldn’t deny that. They were closer than most siblings but that didn’t mean that they didn’t argue. One time, when they were 7, Artemis accidentally cut off a patch of James’ hair. He then retaliated by throwing her telescope out a window. They had both cried before their parents grew back James’ hair and fixed Artemis’ telescope. They didn’t speak for two weeks before becoming bored and getting back to mischief. James even asked her to cut his hair again so that he could ask his mum to grow it the way he wanted. Artemis had tears streaming down her face as she looked at the bald patch on James’ head where the skin and bone was held together with stitches and strips of bandages.

Lily and Marlene had come to sit with Artemis after convincing Sirius not to kill Nott. Lily was asking Pomfrey about what she could do to help whereas Marlene sat next to Artemis. Marlene held her as she cried and shook. Pomfrey had explained how lucky he was that Dumbledore had been able to slow his fall. Artemis realised how easily she could have lost her brother. She cried into Marlene as Lily helped change the bandages on James’ head. Lily had to be doing something to feel useful, that’s how she dealt with her stress.

“You played really well” Artemis choked out after lifting her head off Marlene’s shoulder.

“Thanks Misty” Marlene said softly.

“Misty?” Artemis exclaimed. “I’ve never heard anyone say that before”

“Well, I think it suits you. Something only I call you. Everyone else had their fancy nicknames for everyone else now so why not” Marlene explained. It was true. James called her Arty, the rest of the Marauders called her Talons or Tal, claiming it was because her nails were like talons and she attacked James with them when he stole her secret stash of food she kept in the boy’s room. Lily called her Art and everyone else called her by her full name.

“I think it’s perfect” Artemis said softly before curling up in Marlene’s arms feeling happy despite her brother almost dying.


	15. Birthdays

Artemis:

It had been a month since James had been in the hospital wing. Pomfrey had kept him in for a week after he woke up to keep an eye on him. Lily had visited almost every day to help Pomfrey care for him. Artemis had spent every moment she could sat with him along with the rest of the marauders, who promised not to get their revenge until James was there to see it. The rest of the quidditch team had visited the next day after their celebration party that was far more boring than usual without the Marauders and the girls. Marlene had taken to staying with Artemis when she was sat with James, they often fell asleep there, holding onto each other, just waiting for James to wake up. It was two days before James did wake up and Lily had to stop Artemis from hurting him. The boys were called and they too had to be held back. Remus’ birthday had come and gone with a small celebration by the Marauders’ standard. Everyone had sung to him and he’d collected his presents. They had decided not to do a big party as James was still recovering and in pain. Instead they had stayed in the boy’s dorm and laughed and smoked. Remus did have a soft spot for smoking both legal and less legal substances he’d been given by some friends at Christmas. He’d been given a pendant with the image of a wolf with a dog, deer, rat and hawk playing under the moon. The marauders shared a look while the rest looked confused. He also got chocolate and books as he’d requested.

That was then. Now it was the 27th of March and the twins were turning sixteen. Their party was to be grand and involve the whole of Gryffindor and all the fifth years. Everyone knew and liked James and Artemis was one of the most well liked people in their year and others. They had decided on a theme for this one: Gods and Goddesses. This was based off Artemis’ name and their mum’s love of mythology. Everyone was going as mixes of different Gods and Goddesses from all cultures and there was going to be lots of magic in the air.

The fifth year girls were once again preparing in their room. Athena had been pushed out to go to the cattery room in the tower to avoid damaging any of the dresses. Dorcas had made most of the dresses by modifying them from either old ones the girls had or ones they bought in Hogsmeade. Artemis had obviously gone as her namesake and was dressed in a flowing dark blue gown with stars covering it and a low and dramatic neckline. Her hair was swept into a bum at the base of her neck and she had her bracelet from Marlene on her arm. She had a crown made of crescent moons and was charmed to glow placed on her hair. Marlene was going as Aurora the Roman goddess of dawn. She was the polar opposite of Artemis. She had a simple draped white dress that painted her as the image of a roman goddess. He hair was left in it’s flowing ringlets and had a crown of sunlight on her hair. She looked the image of the sun as Artemis was the image of the moon. Lily was going as the Celtic goddess of Ireland Eriu. She had a green dress covered in flowers and lace. As she moved her har flew freely as flowers stayed throughout. She was the image of nature and Ireland. Alice was going as Euridice and Frank as Orpheus as they couldn’t find any good godly couples. Mary was going as Demeter and Dorcas as Epona. Artemis stared at Marlene. She truly did look like a goddess.

They walked out the stairs while brandishing their new identities for the night. They spotted the boys from across the room where they were clearly spiking the drinks sat on the table. The boys were Gods of their own. James had gone as Apollo as he was Artemis’ twin and his dark hair was charmed blond for the evening. Sirius had gone as Hades, he was dressed in a dramatic dark muggle suit and had his long hair swept into a half up half down look. Artemis couldn’t help but laugh when she saw Remus staring with large eyes at Sirius. Remus was similar to Artemis in that he went as his namesake despite not being a real god. Remus and Peter had gone as Remus and Romulus, complete with a fake wolf they carried at their sides. The ones who knew about Remus’ furry little problem couldn’t help but giggle.

The music had started and so had the dancing. Within the hour, all the girls had taken off their shoes and were dancing around barefoot. Lily and Gideon had left the common room just before but were outside the portrait hole. Artemis and Marlene were dancing and singing together and laughing so much that they were crying and clutching their sides. Sirius and Remus were stood laughing at James who was staring at Lily. Artemis couldn’t help but notice the strange look in Sirius’ eyes as he looked at Remus. Peter and Mary were dancing in a corner on their own when Sirius stood on a table.

“Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffies and Snakey wakeys. I would like to say happy birthday to the utter twat that is my best friend and brother James Fleamont Potter” Sirius yelled. He was clearly drunk and Remus had to jump up to help him stand. “And a giant happy birthday to my favourite goddess Artemis Euphemia Potter you swot I love you and thanks for helping me get hated by my family” Sirius yelled joyfully.

Everyone cheered and passed more drinks to the twins. Before long, the common room was emptying and only the fifth years were left. Gideon and Lily hadn’t been seen together since they left, and Lily was sat with everyone.

“Whoop presents” James yelled as everyone laughed. Artemis handed him a well wrapped box which contained a small necklace with a stag pendant on it. James reached over to hug her but not before burping loudly in her face.

“Fuck off you twat” Artemis laughed as she pushed him away. Sirius gave him a large selection box of pranking equipment to get their revenge on the Slytherins. They had been putting it off to get supplies for their party and to avoid the risk of detention. Remus gave him some socks which were charmed to make his footsteps silent. Peter gave him a book filled with drawings of them all over the past year. The boys all hugged before Marlene handed over her present, a big jar of muggle hair gel.

“To tame that mess on your head” She laughed. Everyone roared with laughter as they saw James sadly pat his hair. Finally, it was Lily, she handed him a small box wrapped perfectly with a small bow on top. James carefully opened it as he saw a small pendant inside. It was a small ‘J’ with a Celtic pattern around it.

“I saw it when I was in Ireland over the summer and thought of you and your idiotic ways” Lily explained. James was sat awestruck when everyone turned to Artemis. From Peter, Artemis got a small plant with would apparently help with keeping Athena off the girls’ stuff, from Remus she got a book about curse breaking and runes. She reached over to hug the two. From Sirius she got a hair clip with hawk feathers made out of silver sweeping upwards. From James a similar necklace to his but with a hawk mid-flight with the moon behind it. She hugged them both before sitting back on her spot on the floor. Marlene handed her a small box Artemis carefully opened it and saw a charm that would fit her bracelet. It had a small image of the sunrise glowing over the hills.

“To remind you of tonight with me looking majestic” Marlene joked. Artemis laughed as she blushed so much she wasn’t sure whether she was on fire or not. She stared at Marlene and they held eye contact filled with unanswered questions. They quickly looked away when Lily handed Artemis her final box.

“I got these from some of my friends when I was back home. I couldn’t deal with Petunia and these helped” Lily explained as Artemis opened the box to see three packets of cigarettes. Remus laughed as he pulled a small packet out of his pocket,

“Fuck you Lily stealing my ideas” He laughed as he passes them around. The group lit their cigarettes and let the smoke fill the room. They had all smoked before at some point or another but with the stress of upcoming exams they all needed it even more.

They all moved around to get more comfortable. James had his legs over the rest of the boys as Sirius and Remus were entangled in each other and James as Peter attempted to move James feet from his face. Lily was leaning against the sofa sipping her drink as Marlene and Artemis shared an armchair pushed next to the fire.

“So Lily flower how come we didn’t see you with Gideon much this fine evening?” Asked Artemis as she sipped her firewhiskey.

“Well, we broke up” Lily answered bluntly. James lit up.

“Why would you break up with a hot piece of ass like his?” Sirius asked. Remus hit him lightly.

“Well because of exams and stuff I feel like I’m ignoring him” Lily voice was barely a whisper as she added “and I kinda like someone else”

“What the fuck Lily why didn’t you tell me?” Artemis yelled, spitting out her drink.

“If it’s Snivellus Lily I will never help you with herbology homework again” Peter yelled.

“It isn’t Severus. But I won’t tell any of you who it is because you’ll make fun of me”

The whole group booed her as she laughed.

“Let’s play a game” Sirius suggested.

“Truth or dare” Peter yelled. The group nodded.

“Wait I have some Veritaserum left over from a project for Slughorn” Lily announced.

“Swot” Marlene yelled as she ran to get it from the dorm. When she came back the group was shaking in anticipation.

“Birthday boy first, James truth or dare?” Marlene said

“Truth”

“Wuss, then. Little help here Moony” Sirius yelled

“Alright then, James who’s your favourite person here?”

James took his shot of Veritaserum and answered.

“Lily”

Lily turned bright red before hitting Remus with a pillow.

“Birthday girl next” Marlene yelled

“Dare” Artemis said with a sly look on her face.

“Artemis, I dare you to floo your mum in the fire and say how much you love me and want to swap me for James” Sirius explained. Artemis grabbed some floo powder the prefects saved for emergencies next to the fire before calling out the code for her mum’s room.

“Mum, I think Sirius is a much better sibling than James. He is less annoying, and I would like you to arrange with Walburga a child swap. That is all goodnight”

Everyone roared with laughter as they heard a groan before Artemis removed herself from the fire.

They continued to play well into the morning before staggering up to the boy’s room to fall asleep. Artemis, Marlene and Lily took James and Remus’ mattresses and slept on those on the floor while the boys pushed the rest of the beds together to sleep on that. They were happy and blissful as they were unaware of what was happening in the world as they slept.


	16. Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW In this chapter there is a lot of misogynistic language and description of attacks while being held against your will. Feel free to skip the chapter I will put a small summary at the end. Take care of yourselves

Lily:

The whole of the older school years walked slowly down to breakfast the next morning. They had gotten extremely lucky that the party had been on a Saturday night and they didn’t have lessons. Everyone had dark circles under their eyes and looked ready to throw up as they sat silently at the tables. As the younger years walked in noisily, there were many shushes. The fifth year Gryffindors were groaning into their large servings of bacon and sausages. They all drank at least three cups of coffee each before they were able to hold a conversation. Despite this, they were still up earlier than many other students and were there well before the post. They sat in silence until,

“Lily can I talk to you?” Severus asked. Ignoring the glares from the rest of them.

“Sure” Lily responded calmly. They walked out of the hall and were part way down the corridor when Lily finally asked “What is going on Sev?”

“Lily, there is going to be some news today and you need to know that despite my friends, I had nothing to do with it”

“Sev what do you mean?” Lily asked worriedly

“Look I’ve already said too much but please know I had nothing to do with what happened” He walked away, leaving Lily confused as she made her way back to the hall. She sat in silence until the post owls arrived.

“What the fuck” Artemis whispered as she looked at her Daily Prophet. Lily looked over to read,

**Wizarding Family Murder By So Called ‘Death Eaters’**

**Mr David Noel and Mrs Elizabeth Noel were killed last night along with two of their children Jack (7) and Amy (11) they leave behind Lillian who is in her fourth year at Hogwarts.**

Lily couldn’t read the rest as she heard a fourth year Ravenclaw scream and sob before running out of the hall. Lily’s heart broke for the girl as she assumed it was Lillian. Everyone was awake now.

“In light of the recent news, we have decided to cancel lessons until Tuesday” Dumbledore announced “And can all prefects join me in the prefect’s office”

Remus and Lily bid their friends a solemn goodbye as they walked to the office. Remus had his arm around Lily to both hold himself and her up. It was large and had sofas and armchairs lining the sides with a large meeting table in the middle. Dumbledore took a seat on an armchair as the prefects perched around.

“As I am all sure, you have seen the news today. This is a horrific event and we must be prepared to help the students. I am sure it will come out at some point and I need all of you to be aware of it before things get worse. The Noels were killed because they supported muggleborns. The Dark Mark was found at the scene and so we must be prepared to help younger muggle born students. They will be scared and we must look after them. That is all. Please make sure your houses are okay for the next few weeks” He said with an unusually serious tone.

As Remus and Lily watched him leave, Lily notice Severus talking in hushed tones to some of the older Slytherin prefects. She shot him a confused look before walking back to the Gryffindor common room.

“It’s going to be okay. Well protect you and no one will hurt you alright” Lily heard an unfamiliar voice say.

“I promise, if anyone hurts you, come to me or James and we will make sure they stay away from you” Sirius said. Lily and Remus walked over to the corner where they could hear the voices. They saw James and Sirius sat with a first-year girl Lily recognised. She was a muggleborn and reminded Lily of herself on the first night. Lily stared at the unfamiliar James Potter who sat there. He looked older, less joyous, and more sincere.

“Come on Ciara, let’s see if I can get you some hot chocolate from Peter” Lily held out her hand and led the girl to where Peter was handing out hot chocolate he got from the kitchens along with some of the seventh and sixth years. She saw Artemis and Marlene in deep conversation by the fire with cunning looks in their eyes. As the only muggleborn Gryffindor prefect, Lily was given the job of being an example to the younger years, showing they were safe, showing she wasn’t afraid. It was all bullshit. She was terrified, she knew they weren’t safe and she damn well couldn’t be an example. As hard as she tried, Lily could never be perfect. She ended up walking around the castle grounds, helping young students back to their common rooms, talking politely to teachers she saw but mostly thinking.

It was lunch time before she made her way to the Great Hall, where many students had congregated after being in their common room. She ate her lunch on her own, occasionally talking to a few younger students. She couldn’t face going back to the common room. Mary would be distracting herself from the looming threat of her being sent away, Dorcas would be sat with her talking about anything else. Alice would be sat with talking to Frank about their plans. The boys would probably be planning some dumb prank. They had barely played any this year that Lily had noticed, maybe they were getting smarter. Artemis and Marlene would be helping the other students relax. Lily couldn’t do that. She wanted to fight back. She wanted to help the people who were fighting. Then she’d be doing something useful. She was walking to see if Pomfrey had anything for her to help with when it happened,

“If it isn’t Severus’ mudblood whore” Mulciber spat. “You know he asked us not to hurt you, but where’s the fun in that when you’re all on your own”

Lily swallowed as Mulciber and Nott walked towards her. She didn’t want to provoke a fight but kept her wand in her hand hidden in her pocket.

“Petrificus totalus” Nott said, locking Lily in place.

“Look at the little slut. If she wasn’t so muddy I’d fuck her” Mulciber said. Lily was petrified.

“We can still have our fun with her” Nott said as Lily fought against the spell.

“She’s so hateful. It’s hot” Mulciber said before grabbing her hair yanking her head back.

“Such a shame she’s not pure. We’d have so much fun. Well let’s leave her as a message to the other little muddies” Nott winked at her. Next thing she knew her face was bloodied. Nott must have used non-verbal magic to hurt her. She felt blood running down her. She felt her clothes rip open as she felt more and more cuts cover her body. Tears were falling as she felt her body get ripped apart and feel blood running down her. She was blacking out as she felt words being carved into her neck.

She woke up in the hospital wing a day later.

Artemis:

“They used some pretty nasty hexes on her, I wasn’t fully sure of which ones were used, I haven’t seen them before” Pomfrey explained. When Lily wasn’t seen after lunch, the fifth years went looking for her. Artemis and Remus found her in an empty classroom covered in blood and rashes. Remus rushed to Pomfrey as Artemis had tried to stop the bleeding. Artemis screamed when she saw Lily’s neck. The word ‘Mudblood’ was carved into the bottom of her neck onto her shoulder. Artemis already knew it would scar. At the hospital wing, Pomfrey forced multiple blood replenishing potions down Lily’s throat along with a dreamless sleep. As Lily was fully asleep, Pomfrey worked to get rid of the spell causing Lily extreme pain. The group were thankful to learn that Lily blacked out early and wouldn’t have felt most of the pain. The boys left with murder in their eyes as Artemis and Marlene sat next to Lily. Curled up in the same way they had while sat waiting for James to wake up only a month before.

They had fallen asleep in the hospital wing waiting for Lily to wake up. Pomfrey had let them stay as ‘body guards’ but instead they were waking up slowly the next morning.

“Lena. That’s my new nickname for you” Artemis choked out “You call me Misty, I call you Lena”

Marlene laughed softly as Artemis grinned “It’s perfect” Marlene said quietly before pulling Artemis back into their hug. Artemis looked up at Marlene awkwardly to see her face, what she didn’t expect was Marlene, looking down at her in the same way. Artemis stared into Marlene’s bright blue eyes as she sat up. Marlene moved herself so that they were sat face to face. Artemis felt her heart beating in her chest and Marlene put a hand on her face softly. Artemis let herself relax into Marlene’s hand as she felt herself moving closer. The two stared at each other, moving their faces closer. They were almost touching when Lily groaned in her sleep.

“Lily” They both yelled as they saw her eyes flutter open. They were apart and at Lily’s side in an instant. Pomfrey ran into the room looking like she’d just woken up.

“How do you feel dear?” The matron asked.

“Better” Lily croaked “Did they get punished?”

“Did who get punished dear?”

“Nott and Mulciber”

“Not yet dear but I will let Dumbledore know right now” Pomfrey whisked herself off to his office leaving the girls behind.

Lily sat up, exposing the large scar across her neck and shoulder, Artemis and Marlene grimaced as she did. Lily looked confused before grabbing a mirror off the nightstand. Both Artemis and Marlene reached over to stop her. Lily took one look at it and burst into tears. While Pomfrey had manage to heal the rest of her, only leaving her with a few bruises and small scars, this was going to be permanent and visible. The girls hugged tightly before McGonagall and Dumbledore walked in.

“Miss Evans, are you sure it was Mulciber and Nott who attacked you?” Dumbledore asked. Pomfrey looked outraged.

“Professor, I have checked her for all memory and confounding spells, and she is perfectly fine. If she says it was those two then I don’t doubt it at all. Also I have told you about the countless young students who come in here hurt by those two” Pomfrey responded sharply.

“Apologies Poppy but I must make sure. Now girls you will be excused from your lessons before lunch today but you must attend those after lunch so long as Poppy agrees that Miss Evans will be fine” Dumbledore said. Pomfrey nodded curtly before showing the teachers the door.

At lunch the girls were able to leave the hospital. Pomfrey had told Lily to stay in her dorm for the rest of the day but Lily refused to leave the other girls’ sides. When Lily put on her new clothes, she noticed the top of her scar peaking above the collar. She started to panic, and Artemis could see her hyperventilating. Marlene quickly handed her a fluffy scarf that she had in her bag from winter. Lily wrapped it tight around her neck before walking to the Great hall. When they entered they saw the most amazing sight. Every part that was Slytherin green was now bright sunflower yellow and covered in sunflowers and glitter. Lily was crying with joy as the boys sat proudly. Not only was this payback for Lily but also James. What Lily didn’t notice however was the black eyes and cuts that both Mulciber and Nott were sporting and that they could no longer speak.

They sat and ate at their lunch. Lily was skittish and would always make sure she was next to someone who had their wand accessible, but she seemed better. The school was recovering from the news of yesterday and had instead turned to laugh at the glitter. McGonagall walked over to the boys when they were about to leave,

“A week’s detention for all of you four. Don’t pretend like it wasn’t you because I know the look in your eyes by now. Nice to see you better Miss Evans” She said, with a glint in her eye.

“Only a week” Sirius exclaimed

“Minnie’s gone soft” James laughed and high fived Peter. Artemis thought that she quite enjoyed the prank and the fact that Lily was one of her favourite students and she wanted to get her own revenge.

For the rest of the day, either Artemis, Marlene or Remus was Lily’s protector. She never went anywhere alone. Severus had tried to talk to her at one point, but Remus silenced him before he could open his mouth. Many younger students who liked Lily gave her small presents of chocolates or cake which Lily took awkwardly. Later in the evening, Lily received a letter from her parents, who had apparently been told about the incident by McGonagall.

_My darling Lily,_

_We have been informed of what happened. Are you ok? We understand that Hogwarts is the best place for you but are you safe? Please ask one of your friends to stay with you at all times. We don’t want to see you hurt dear. Also please ask Euphemia to visit me on Saturday, I wish to discuss some things with her. On a happier note, your dad is doing well and the doctor is very hopeful that he will be better by the summer._

_We love you,_

_Mum and Da_

Lily laughed at the short letter. Artemis laughed and began to write a letter to her mum to get her to visit.

Lily went to bed early that night. Artemis and Marlene followed her soon after and promptly fell asleep. Their exams would start soon and they needed as much rest as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Some Slytherins attack Lily and leave her with a scar across her shoulder and neck. The boys get their payback by pranking the people who hurt her. That is the main information of what happened. Take care of yourselves :)  
> -Moony


	17. A Break

Artemis:

From the events of the end of March until the easter holidays, nothing much happened. Artemis and Marlene had both forgotten, or ignored, their moment in the hospital wing and were instead prepping for easter. Most people went home to relax before the end of year exams started but the 5th and 7th years stayed for extra lessons and revision. Lily, Artemis and Remus were leading the sessions with their friends and others. Remus had accidentally started a study group with people of all houses. All the Gryffindor fifth years attended as they wished along with 4 Ravenclaws, 5 Hufflepuffs and even 2 Slytherins who sat quietly. They worked on all subjects and shared what they needed with each other. Artemis and Lily had become assistant teachers as it was, Artemis helped with runes and Lily helped with potions. Remus helped with any others. It was the perfect way for them to help. Lily was quieter and more reserved since her incident and seemed to have an unimaginable anger under her skin. Helping others seemed to help her relax more, but she still wouldn’t let herself be alone. Everyone had become so protective of her and Mary that no one dared to make any comment. Some Slytherin had said something about Lily’s scar and had found themselves the next day with pink hair sprouting all over their body. Artemis had received a letter from her mum about what she and Rose had spoken about in their meeting. Euphemia had assured Rose that Lily was safe and protected. Apparently she didn’t have the heart to explain the war to her.

Thoughts and rumours about the war were growing stronger. Every day brought news of more and more attacks on muggles and wizarding families. Artemis had even subscribed to the Evening Prophet to avoid missing any news. They didn’t have time to worry though. OWLs started in a month. The 31st of May was circled in everyone’s calendar. The classroom McGonagall had allowed Remus to use had a large calendar with the date highlighted and days marked off for each exam. He had already planned what they’d do on certain days around the exams. He would make the perfect professor.

“If I look at one more number I’m going to die” Lily groaned. Remus and Artemis grunted in agreement.

“That’s what you get for taking arithmancy my dears” Sirius said happily while he sat smoking out a window in the common room, earning himself three death glares. Everyone was sat around reading notes and doing some early homework. The teachers had been kinder to them over the break with homework so that they could focus on revision. Sirius was mostly relaxing and revising for his subjects when he felt like it. They all knew that no matter what he’d get good grades. James was trying as hard as he could to ensure he had the best chance at getting into his NEWT programs. Marlene was going into ‘exam mode’ and was begging anyone to test her and study with her. Her and Molly had stopped their snogging and her only stress release was now quidditch practice. With the holidays, they weren’t practicing but her and James still kept up their morning routine. Lily, Remus and Artemis had holed themselves in the library more than normal. Peter often joined them to ensure that they did eat and drink while revising himself. While he knew he wasn’t going to do as well as his friends, Peter did want to try and with everyone’s help he thought he may do well. Mary often joined Peter to study while Alice and Dorcas studied in the dorm for some peace.

“Alright we need to have some fun” James yelled and jumped up.   
“Fuck off, please just one more chapter” Artemis groaned, not even looking up from her runes textbook. Lily, Remus and Marlene also seemed to share her thoughts as they also didn’t look up. They were piled in a corner of the common room and were all sat on a mix of books and pillows on the floor. They had taken over this corner with their books as the seventh years had the fireplace seats.

“Accio books” James said with a flick of his wand.

“Wanker”

“Twat”

“Ass”

“Stupid ass mother fucker” Sirius chimed in with a laugh at the others dramatic reactions.

“You will get your books back when you’ve left the room for at least an hour. You have not left the tower or the library in two weeks you need to have some fun” James said shockingly diplomatically. They couldn’t argue with him.

“Grab your swimming trunks boys, today we’re swimming with the squid” Sirius yelled as he finished his cigarette.

The girls dragged themselves off the floor and walked up to their dorm. As they walked in Alice looked at Lily with puppy dog eyes before handing her a galleon. Lily laughed and rolled her eyes taking the money before passing a vial of potion to Alice.

“Merlin anyone would think you’re a drug dealer Lil” Marlene laughed.

“You’re my biggest addict then” Lily responded as the girls all laughed. Alice, Mary and Dorcas were sat on the floor with books and magazines surrounding them.

“Guilty” Marlene shrugged. All the girls laughed before the girls on the bed looked quizzically at Lily. She had a swimming costume in hand along with a large scarf.

“Black is making us swim” She pouted. While Mary, Alice and Dorcas knew about Lily’s incident, no one except Artemis and Marlene knew about her scar.

“The scarf is because I don’t trust Potter not to stare at my chest all night” She sighed. The girls all accepted it, everyone knew of James’ crush.

As Marlene and Artemis got changed in the room and Lily emerged from the bathroom they all giggled at how stupid it was. While Marlene and Artemis had simple summer dresses over their swimming costumes, Lily had a summer dress and a scarf. Lily rolled her eyes and walked out with them. Artemis stopped her in the corridor.

“Lily, I love you but you look ridiculous. I have a glamour spell that you can put over it. It will sting and doesn’t last that long on magically inflicted wounds but it will at least let you swim” Artemis said kindly. Lily nodded as she removed the scarf. The word ‘Mudblood’ stood out in angry letters against Lily’s freckled chest from years of basking in the sun. While her face had some freckles, her chest was always worse, she claimed it was because she always wore sun hats and forgot to put sun cream on, but the girls knew she used glamour spells to reduce them on her face and arms when they were exposed. She once told them a story of being bullied about her freckles in muggle school. They didn’t bring it up. Artemis swallowed and took out her wand. She said the incantation as she moved her wand over the word. Lily gripped onto Marlene’s hand as she grimaced.

“Lily, you’re safe, we aren’t hurting you. We’re going to swim and watch James try to impress you and we’re all going to laugh” Marlene whispered as Lily began to hyperventilate. She calmed and hugged Marlene when Artemis took a step back.

“That should hold for about 4 hours hopefully” Artemis said softly. Lily hugged her and they walked towards the lake. It was mid afternoon and the sun glistened across the lake. Lily used the magic sun cream Artemis had in a small bag that applied itself as they laughed their way through the castle. They attempted to see who could get to the doors faster and ended up tripping in their small shoes. The laughed as they finally made their way to where the boys were sat. They were sat on the rocks near the forest and were all lying in the sun. Artemis burst out laughing as she saw what James was wearing. He was wearing red swim trunks with small brooms on them.

“I forgot how Gryffindor obsessed you are” she managed to get out between fits of laugher. “You’ve had those since you were six”

“They are newer versions” James pouted as everyone joined Artemis in howling with laugher. “What are you laughing at Sirius, mister I don’t have any swim trunks that flatter my di-“ James was cut off as Sirius pushed him into the lake. He emerged shaking his hair and laughing. He took off his glasses which had manged to stay on and threw them onto the rocks. Sirius and Peter cannon balled into the water as Remus laughed. No one cared about his scars but he still seemed nervous. Artemis took off her dress and was left in a simple black swimming costume with hick stapes going over her shoulders. It had a low back and she blushed when she noticed Marlene looking at her. Marlene on the other hand was wearing a bikini which showed off her tones quidditch body. It was bright blue and had shorts on the bottom which left her abs exposed. Artemis felt herself staring open mouthed as she saw how stunning Marlene was. Both girls were snapped out of their trances when they noticed Lily. She was carefully removing her yellow floral sundress and she stood awkwardly in her, also yellow, high waisted bikini. The few freckles which escaped her spell were glowing in the sun and she looked like she was the sun. Artemis shot a look at James who was staring from the water despite not being able to fully see. Lily’s eyes shifted to the girls to make sure her scar was covered. Artemis could see that it hurt her but nodded slightly.

“Make way ladies, the majestic Remus John Lupin is about to enter” Sirius yelled. Remus posed slightly laughing before jumping in, with a sport top still on. Lily tied her hair up in a quick bun as did Marlene before taking their jewellery off and jumping in. The necklace Marlene got for Christmas sat glimmering on the rocks. Artemis smiled before taking her necklace and bracelet off. She felt a warm feeling rush over her before taking a running jump into the water, splashing everyone. She laughed as the cold water rushed over her head. Her hair splayed around her as it fell out of her loose braid. “Finally you lazy lot joined us” Peter laughed

“James stay the fuck away from Lily” Marlene said feigning annoyance as James started swimming closer to the girls.

Everyone laughed wholeheartedly for the first time in months as they played in the water. The splashed each other, wrestled in the water and laughed. It was the perfect afternoon as they finally relaxed. James and Lily even seemed to be getting along as they laughed and joked together. For the first time it seemed that there was a chance they could be friends at least. Artemis tried to ignore their arguing and stayed away from it when she could. They were civil when they were with everyone but Artemis knew they often argued still. They all climbed out of the water by the time the sun was setting. Casting drying and warming charms they sat comfortably on the rocks. Peter had snuck dinner out of the kitchens before leaving the castle and had provided the group with a picnic.

“Wormtail you’re a fucking lifesaver” Artemis said with a mouthful of sausage roll.

“We fucking love you” Marlene responded as she tucked into the small cupcakes. Remus and Sirius were attempting to throw small bits of chip into each other’s mouths with varying levels of success. James was eating the sticky toffee pudding he found in the selection that he was hoarding for himself. Everyone cheered as Sirius caught three chips thrown by Remus one after the other before falling silent with horror.

“Lily?” James asked timidly “what’s that on your neck?”

Artemis and Marlene looked over quickly as they realised the spell had worn off. Despite the falling light, the scar was standing out on Lily’s skin. Lily sat in horror as she quickly wrapped her dress, which was sat on the rocks next to her, around her neck. Artemis and Marlene moved next to her to hold her hands as she cried quietly. The boys all looked with wide eyes as Lily broke down. She explained what really happened when she was attacked and sobbed as she did. Everyone hugged her as she finished telling her story. She was crying and yet laughing with relief.

“We promise to help you hide it if that’s what you want” James said softly. Lily nodded with a thankful look. They went back to talking quietly among themselves. Lily was quieter and yet seemed lighter. Artemis also couldn’t help but notice the way Sirius and Remus were looking at the other when they had their back turned. Artemis smirked to herself. There was a strange moment when Remus decided to announce,

“I thought I’d tell everyone now. Lily has been so brave I thought I’d also be brave. I’m gay, that’s all”

Everyone looked slightly shocked at the calmness of the announcement before hugging him.

“We love you Moony, this doesn’t change anything” was a summary of what all the boys said. The girls on the other hand,

“Finally”  
“Took you long enough”

“At least everyone knows now”

“Wait you all knew” Remus yelled “I thought it was only Lily and Artemis”

“You aren’t subtle” Marlene smirked

“Wait they knew before us?” Peter yelled

“Traitor” James pouted

“It wasn’t hard to notice” Artemis laughed.

“I guessed” Sirius said softly and turned Remus bright red. They joked more and laughed until they finally made their way back to the castle. They all piled into the boy’s dorm once more. The girls quickly changed and made their way through before taking up their usual place. The beds were once again arranged for them all. Two mattresses for the girls and two for the boys. Lily was still quiet but was coming back to her normal self.

“So Remus, how long have you known” James asked as Remus groaned

“Like a year ish. I was kinda with a lad back home but cos of school we stopped” He explained as everyone said ‘oo’.

“So you lot really don’t mind, I thought wizards were more conservative about this stuff” Remus said quietly.

“Fuck no” Sirius scoffed “My mother once said, and I quote, I would rather you fuck all the pureblood men than a half blood slut” He said with a perfect impression of Walburga.

“Oh yeah, our late uncle had a boyfriend until he died didn’t he James” Artemis said.

“Oh yeah, they fought Grindelwald together. Because he wasn’t the heir they didn’t care” James said.

“My mum’s brother was gay I think but had to marry a woman to produce an heir” Peter explained. They didn’t know much about Peter’s family, then again neither did he. Everyone, except Lily and Remus, was then telling scandalous family history stories. It was late when they did finally stop talking. They got ready to sleep. Sirius was laid across Remus’ chest and had an arm hitting James in the face. Remus had Sirius on him and Peter curled up in a small ball on the edge of the mattress next to him. James was half hanging off the other side facing Lily, his wand next to him as if he were ready to protect her. Lily had been gifted one of the mattresses to herself in case she got anxious again. She was clutching her blanket to her chest as she slept in a tight ball. Artemis and Marlene fell asleep in each other’s arms. They each didn’t know what it was but either way they liked it.

“Goodnight Misty” Marlene whispered into Artemis’ ear.

“Goodnight Lena” Artemis whispered back with a soft smile on her face.

Lily:

Lily woke in the night to the feeling of Mulciber and Nott ripping her skin apart. She walked silently out of the dorm and into the common room. She grabbed one of the soft blankets they kept under one of the seats and wrapped herself in it as she also grabbed her textbook from the pile they had been left in earlier. She curled up next to the dying fire and looked at the time. Four am. Shaking her head and realising she wouldn’t get back to sleep, she opened her book and began to read. She felt someone sit on the sofa next to her and whipped her head up.

“Potter, what are you doing here?” she asked

“Could say the same for you Evans” He responded with a smirk that made Lily feel butterflies.

“Couldn’t sleep” Lily shrugged.

“I wanted to check how you were. Contrary to popular belief I do care about you as a person Evans”

“Lily. Call me Lily” She didn’t even know what she was doing.

“Okay Lily. Put the book away, talk to me instead I’m boring enough. It’ll make you fall asleep” James laughed softly. Revelling in calling her Lily.

“You’re not boring James” James blushed at the sound of his name coming from her lips. James told her all about quidditch and their chances at the cup. Lily nodded along before tiredness took over. She didn’t know what she was doing when she tucked herself into James’ chest. She could feel his heart beating rapidly as she wrapped her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her as they both relaxed. Falling asleep, peaceful in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some Jily because why not. I think I'm going to stray a little further from canon about when they get together because of some sisterly intervention but I honestly haven't decided.   
> -Moony


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To get this chapter right I read as many versions of this as I could so if it sounds similar to any others you may have read, it probably is.

Artemis:

After the happiness and excitement of their lakeside picnic, the group seemed to have changed. Lily and James were found asleep in the common room together by Artemis and Marlene who still hadn’t mentioned it. James and Lily seemed to be getting on now, laughing and joking and Lily hadn’t hexed him when he called her by her first name. Everyone else was now much more relaxed around them. However, their calmness and relaxed break would soon be gone. It was one day before OWLs started and once again, they all entered ‘exam mode’. Artemis was calm, she knew what she would do but that didn’t stop her from spending every spare moment studying with Lily and Remus. The quidditch final had taken place at some point between easter and now. They went and they celebrated with their house, but then went back to work. As quidditch was over, Marlene took her stress out by hexing the mannequins Remus kept in the study room for defence practice. James never stopped moving. He was either running or working out in some way when he wasn’t studying with Remus. His anxiety about the exams came out in strange ways. Peter was usually found with Mary. Both struggled with exams and helped each other well. Remus’ study group became more full with students from all years worried about their end of year exams and the fifth years found it useful to explain stuff to them, even if they did go off topic.

“Who started the Goblin Rebellion of 1612?” Peter said looking up from his textbook.

“Urg the Unclean” Sirius, Remus and Lily answered quickly. The exam timetable was not the best. The compulsory subjects were first and the options were later. Lily had made a list with who was taking them and handed one to everyone so they knew to study along with Remus’ large calendar.

_Timetable_

_Monday: History of Magic everyone_

_Tuesday: Potions Theory in the morning Practical in the afternoon Everyone_

_Wednesday: Transfiguration Theory in the morning Practical in the afternoon Everyone_

_Thursday: Charms Theory in the morning Practical in the afternoon Everyone_

_Friday: Astronomy Theory in Morning Practical 12am Everyone_

_Week 2: 7 th June_

_Monday: Defence Theory in the morning Practical in the afternoon Everyone_

_Tuesday: Herbology Theory in the morning Practical in the afternoon Everyone_

_Wednesday: Arithmancy Theory Morning Lily, Remus, Artemis_

_Afternoon Runes Lily, Remus, Artemis, Marlene_

_Thursday: Care of magical creatures Theory in morning Practical in the afternoon Everyone_

_Friday: Divination theory in morning practical in afternoon James, Sirius, Peter_

_Week 3: 14 th June_

_Monday: Muggle studies Theory in morning practical in afternoon James, Sirius, Marlene, Artemis_

Artemis had laughed when she saw it for the first time but was now thankful of Lily for writing it. She had also realised that all of Remus’ exams were before the moon when he would be feeling the least awful.

“Wait Tal you’re taking muggle studies?” Peter asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to say. I asked McGonagall if I could try the exam. I know stuff from Lily and I’ve done some reading when I could so I thought I’d try it” Artemis answered quietly.

“Of course, my smartass sister would ask to take another exam” James laughed. Truth was that Artemis just wanted to get more OWLs than James. She had always felt in his shadow with his quidditch achievements, at least this was something she could beat him at. She’d been reading the books in her spare time and asking Lily subtle questions. She just wanted to beat him at something for once.

As the sun set beyond the hills, everyone was more anxious than before. The looming exams made everyone on edge. Marlene had hexed Sirius for breathing too loudly and no one could really blame her. It was annoying. Eventually, they realised it was time. The said goodnight to everyone and walked to their dorms. Artemis put on her pyjamas and laid on her bed, Athena curled up on her pillow and forcing her to lie diagonally across the bed. She was falling asleep when Marlene knocked on her bed. The blonde girl silently crawled under the quilt and rested her head on Artemis’ shoulder.

“Lena are you okay?” Artemis asked after casting a silencing charm on the bed.

“I’m just a bit worried” Marlene bit her lip, “Could I sleep here, I’m too stressed to sleep on my own”

“Of course, just let me move Athena, I swear this cat loves everyone else more than me” Artemis laughed slightly. It wasn’t unusual for Marlene to do this when she was anxious. When she stayed at the Potter’s while her family were on auror missions, they shared a bed to stop her from panicking.

“Thank you Misty, goodnight” Marlene said softly.

“Goodnight Lena”

In the boys’ dorm a similar scene was playing out,

“Moony, can I sleep in here?” Sirius asked softly. He was shaking.

“Of course, you big mutt” Remus laughed. Sirius needed physical contact when he was scared. Either Remus, Peter or James had to be touching him in some way. Whether it be a simple arm around his shoulder, a hug or even just touching knees under the tables which were getting too small for four teenage boys to sit under at once.

“Thank you Remus” Sirius said with a sincere smile

“No problem Fluffy” Remus giggled as Sirius groaned. Despite his new nickname being Padfoot, Remus still called him Fluffy.

The first three days of exams flew by before the fifth years hit a wall. Their potions practical was simple enough, they all think that they did well. By the end of it all of them produced a good potion and yet none of them looks as good as Lily’s potion which Slughorn took with a gracious smile. Transfiguration was simple for the Marauders being animagi. They simply had to turn a tortoise into a teapot. Artemis’ went perfectly and McGonagall’s eyes shone with pride as she saw her class do perfectly. The charms exam dragged on and by the time they had finished the practical, an obstacle course designed by Flitwick, they were falling asleep.

“Thank god we have tomorrow afternoon off” Lily groaned as she flopped onto the sofa by the window.

“Jesus Christ that killed me” Remus said slumping down next to her resting his head on her shoulder. “Like I’m not being funny, but did Flitwick not consider just giving us simple tasks like every other teacher”

Everyone groaned in agreement. Everyone was exhausted after a week of exams. They all were ready for them to be over.

The astronomy exam led to a weekend full of studying and trips to the kitchens when they forgot to eat. They each took it in turns to grab food and whatever was brought back was eaten without a second thought. The defence exam was first thing the next Monday morning.

“Remus did you love question 17?” James asked as they sat under their favourite tree by the lake.

“Oh yeah loved it, names the characteristics of a werewolf. Number one, he’s sat in my chair, number two he’s wearing my clothes and-“

“Number three he’s named Remus Lupin” Sirius cut in laughing. Everyone laughed as they fell into silence.

“Anyone got a ciggy?” Lily asked as everyone gasped.

“Lily Evans” Peter gasped

“A prefect” Artemis said feigning outrage

“Smoking” Marlene said as she pretended to faint into Sirius’ lap.

“Shut up I need to relax” Lily rolled her eyes as Remus handed her one. The rest looked at him pleadingly as he handed them out. They sat calmly smoking as they discussed defence skills they needed.

“Whoop we’ve finished” Lily yelled as she high fived Remus. He was looking tired yet relieved, the full moon was only a day away. Their exams were finally over but James, Sirius, Marlene, Artemis still had Muggle studies. Lily was finally relaxing after being trapped in her anxiety over the exams. Artemis and Marlene had charmed her school collar to stay above her scar and so she was free from her scarf. She was jumping and hugging everyone as they laughed at her excitement. She finally jumped on Artemis’ back as they ran towards the lake. The girls were sat at the edge of the lake discussing their results when they heard a yell.

Artemis ran towards the boys to see what was happening.

“Expelliarmus!” She heard James yell

Snape’s wand zoomed into the air, landing ten feet away on the grass. Sirius laughed loudly as Snape made a desperate dive for the wand. “Impedimenta!” he said, and Snape tripped, falling face first onto the grass.

James and Sirius both stood at once and walked over to the Slytherin boy, their wands raised. James shot a quick glance over his shoulder towards the lake as he went. Artemis looked to see Lily and Marlene still sat talking comfortably.

“How’d the exams go, Snivelly?” said James. He didn’t even look at Artemis as she watched, frozen in place.

“I was watching him,” said Sirius, “his nose was touching the parchment. There’ll be great grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a word.”

A few of the nearby students laughed at this, and James smirked. Artemis felt a hatred towards her brother as he had a cocky look about him. This was not the James she knew.

Snape, still struggling under the jinx, glared up at James with an expression that indicated any loathing James felt towards him was returned tenfold. “You — wait,” breathed Snape into the dirt.

“Wait for what?” said Sirius mockingly. “What’re you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?”

At this, Snape spewed a stream of curses and hexes and swears, and James was pretty sure he heard the words ‘blood traitors’ among them. “Wash out your mouth,” he said harshly. “Scourgify!” And he watched with satisfaction as a froth of pink soap filled the boy’s mouth. Snape gagged as bubbles gushed from his lips. Artemis couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor boy, but she knew he probably deserved it.

“Leave him ALONE!” Artemis heard Lily scream, an unusual tone from the girl. It was a mix of anger and disappointment that was nothing like how she had been just minutes earlier.

James and Sirius both turned at once to see Lily approaching from the lake. “All right, Evans?” he said pleasantly.

She could see Sirius rolling his eyes beside him, but James’s attention was now entirely focused on her best friend who was giving him a distinctly unfriendly glare.

“Leave him alone,” she said coldly. “What’s he done to you?”

“Well, it’s more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean.” James said smugly. Artemis felt rage boil under her skin.

Lily, whose expression had grown colder still. “You think you’re funny,” she said, “but you’re just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone.” Lily spat out Potter. Artemis could see James’ heart break as their newfound friendship crumbled around him.

“I will if you go out with me, Evans,” countered James, throwing caution to the wind. “Go on…go out with me, and I’ll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.”

Lily stared at him, her eyes widening ever-so-slightly. Then she snapped: “I wouldn’t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.”

“Bad luck, Prongs,” said Sirius carelessly. Sirius shouted, “OI!” and Artemis saw James’ cheek rip open and leave blood pouring down his cheek. A crimson blur on his glasses.

He reacted with the first spell he could think of — one Artemis had heard being used by the Slytherins as they hurt the younger students: Levicorpus. There was a flash of light, and Snape was hanging upside down in the air. His robes spilled over his head, his skinny ghostly legs bare but for a pair of dirty-looking underpants.

Sirius and Peter roared with laughter while the crowd around them cheered. James couldn’t help but grin. Artemis saw Marlene walk over to Remus who was sat in pain under the tree that had held their joy just days earlier.

“Let him down!” demanded Lily, and Artemis couldn’t tell if she was imagining it, but for a moment, she looked as though she might smirk. She didn’t though. She just glared at him, hands on her hips.

“Certainly,” said James in a mock caring voice, adding a mocking bow. He flicked his wand and Snape collapsed to the ground, robes all tangled around his face. Snape clambered to his feet, clutching his wand, but Sirius was one step ahead of him.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Lily shouted as Snape keeled over yet again. She pulled out her own wand now, and both James and Sirius regarded it with wary respect.

“Ah, Evans,” said James, “don’t make me hex you.”

“Take the curse off him then,” said Lily, her wand still pointed menacingly towards them.

James let out a dramatic sigh and muttered the counter-curse, watching with a sneer on his face as Snape got back to his feet with some effort. “There you go. You’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus—”

“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!” spat Snape, a faint froth of bubbles still lingering on his chin. Artemis saw Lily’s face change. The pain and sadness on Lily’s face was obvious and everyone was suddenly silent. The unlikely friendship between a muggleborn Gryffindor and a Slytherin was known around the school.

“Fine,” she said. “I won’t bother in the future. And I’d wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.”

James stared at Lily for a half second longer Artemis could have sworn that there was pride on his face before he turned back around to Snape, his wand pointed directly at his face. “Apologize to Evans!”

But Lily, who had responded so calmly and icily to Snape, rounded on James with a surprising fury. “I don’t want you to make him apologize! You’re as bad as he is…”

“What?” cried James, horrified by the very suggestion. “I’d NEVER call you a — you-know-what!”

“Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can — I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.”

Then she turned on her heel and marched away.

“Evans!” called James, genuinely taken aback by the anger in her voice. “Hey, EVANS!”

But she didn’t look back. Everyone dispersed as Marlene and Remus followed after Lily. James seemed to be hurt by Lily’s words but Artemis didn’t care. In a blind rage she walked over to her brother.

“What the fuck was that? You hexing Snivellus after everything getting better between you and Lily. What did he do to deserve it? Lily was right about you. She’s told me for years about what a selfish toe rag you were hurting people and I liked to believe that it was to protect people but you do it for fun don’t you? You’re a selfish brat and I’m disappointed to be related to you. What they fuck did he do to deserve it?” Artemis yelled. She wasn’t even sure it made sense, her anger took over.

“He cursed Mary” James said quietly. “She’s in the hospital wing, we can’t prove it but Remus was trying out some spells to track people so we decided to test it on him. He was in one empty classroom for a while so we went to investigate. We found Mary, she was bleeding and crying. They hurt her and he deserved it.” Artemis was taken aback. She knew that they were getting more ruthless with their attacks, Lily was proof of that, but that was horrid. Her anger dissolved as James broke down. He was sobbing into her as she hugged him.

“I fucked up didn’t I?” He asked between sobs.

“Yeah, yeah you did” She responded sadly.

Lily:

Lily stormed to her dormitory. She knew Marlene and Remus were following her but she didn’t care. How dare he say that about her? She knew her friends were right. She should have believed them long ago about Severus. She stormed into the dormitory to find only Alice sat there, gathering Mary’s things.

“What’s happening?” Lily asked.

“Didn’t you hear, Mary got attacked she’s in the hospital wing so I’m taking some stuff to her” Alice explained kindly, the two girls always had gotten along well. Alice said a quick goodbye before rushing off, leaving Lily once again, alone. She sat on her bed and finally broke down. She was sobbing when Marlene walked in and wrapped her arms around her. Lily didn’t talk, Marlene hugged her and made sure she knew she was safe. With everything going on, Lily was scared for the first time. Severus had once told her that being muggleborn made no difference. Clearly he was wrong.

“Oh shit Lily I have something good to give you, Gideon apologises that it’s late but he didn’t want to distract you during exams” Marlene said digging her hand into her pocket. Lily opened the small letter and saw that it was a wedding invitation for the marriage of Molly Prewett and Arthur Weasley. Lily smiled at it slightly remembering the party fondly.

“I’ll be going and so will Artemis and the twins duh” Marlene explained. Lily looked at the floor when she realised that she would probably one of the few muggleborns there. The girls hugged as Artemis walked in looking like she’d murder someone.

“Snivellus is waiting for you, I had to stop James from punching him. Sorry Lily” Artemis said quickly as she stroked Athena. “Lily, I know James had been a massive dick and deserves to be beaten up by you but please don’t be too harsh, he did it for a valid reason” Artemis said more quietly. Lily nodded as she connected the dots, Mary being in the hospital wing, James being James.

“Let him stay there, he can survive” Lily said harshly. Both the other girls took a step back at the harshness of her tone.

“Let’s do something fun then, just us as Alice and Dorcas are probably spending the night with Mary” Marlene suggested. So that’s what they did. They listened to David Bowie and Queen and danced to the Beetles. They sang and laughed and distracted themselves from the pain of the day. They finally collapsed on the floor laughing before falling asleep, not caring that the room was a mess and that they weren’t even on a bed. They needed to relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can all guess what's happening next  
> This is longer than before I think so let me know what you think  
> -Moony


	19. The Incident

Artemis:

Artemis woke up with a stiff neck and a numb arm. Lily was laid on the floor next to her and her head was on Marlene at an awkward angle. She slowly got up and stretched out a bit. The events of the previous day hovered over her head as she looked at the time.

“Up you get lazy bones” She said as Lily and Marlene groaned. It was the full moon tonight and she really should have slept better. She put on some simple clothes and tied her hair up before walking down to the common room, leaving Lily and Marlene to wake up slowly. For once, Marlene didn’t join James, and occasionally Sirius, on their morning workout. When she walked down the stairs, she noticed everyone staring at her.

“He slept out there all night”

“Didn’t he get caught?”

“Does she know?”

The whispers followed her as she walked out the portrait hole to see Snivellus laid on the floor hidden slightly. Obviously he had been waiting for Lily.

“Potter, please tell her I’m here. Plea-“ His pleas were cut off,

“Get a grip. You destroyed her, you’re lucky my brother is oblivious and didn’t see you out here. He’d fucking kill you for what you did” Artemis spat with unusual cruelness. She turned to walk away but not before,

“Tell Lupin to have fun tonight” Snivellus said mockingly. Artemis froze. She glared at him,

“You know nothing about him” She had her wand pointed at him. He backdown as Artemis stalked away. Instead of heading for the Great hall she went to the kitchens. She grabbed all of Lily’s favourite breakfast foods and hoped that she wouldn’t have left the common room yet. She raced back with pockets full and ignored Snape still sat on the floor waiting. She saw Lily and Marlene carefully coming down the girls stairs and grabbed them. She turned them around and dumped the food on the floor.

“He’s still there, probably best if you avoid him” Artemis explained as the two girls looks confused. Tears came to Lily’s eyes as she nodded and grabbed the cinnamon swirls. They spent the day in the dorm and the common room, avoiding the boys. Sirius and Remus came to check on Lily and stayed for a while. They asked Lily and Remus for help with their muggle studies revision and Lily seemed happier laughing at the ignorance of purebloods. Remus left when he was in too much pain and delivered a small gift basket to Mary made of her favourite chocolates and sweets.

“Lil he’s still out there” Sirius said sadly.

“I know” She responded sadly.

When Sirius had left to get the girls some dinner, Lily finally said

“Well it’s time to face the music, he can’t sleep out there again” before walking out. Artemis and Marlene were left confused as she walked out.

Lily:

“Snape” Lily said harshly when she saw him.

“Lily please I’m so sorry please forgive me I’m begging you” Snape said as he was trying to stand up.

“Stop just stop” Lily yelled, “You’re making a fool of yourself and me. How could you stay out here all night, you made your bed now lie in it. You-“

“Lily please listen to me I-“

“No, you listen to me. I trusted you. You told me it didn’t matter what people said about my blood status. I ignored your antics for years, I listened to you when you bitched about Potter and Black and you forced me to hate them. They are pricks for what they did to you but tell me, were you responsible for Mary being in the hospital wing?” Lily crossed her arms and stared at him.

“You don’t understand she-“

“She’s a mudblood”

“Lily don’t say that”

“Why? You say it to everyone. I used to think you could change. My friends told me to leave it, that you’re a prejudiced asshole who didn’t care about me. You’re worse than Mulciber and Nott. At least they didn’t pretend to not be horrible. You want to know what they did to me?” Lily pulled down her high-necked jumper to show the ugly scar that sat on her skin. “And you defended them to me. You told me they were good people. Bullshit. Why did you do it? Why pretend to be my friend?”

“Lily I am your friend. I- I love you” Snape stuttered. Lily had tears in her eyes.

“No. Don’t do this to me. Please just leave me alone. We’re done Snivellus” Lily walked away, back through the portrait hole to where Artemis and Marlene were waiting for her with open arms. She heard Sirius coming back through a few minutes later with murder in his eyes. He handed her some food before walking to the boys’ dorm. Artemis followed.

Artemis:

The moon was coming soon and they needed to get ready. She went to the boys dorm and opened it to hear yelling.

“What the fuck Sirius? He could fucking die are you fucking joking” James yelled as Sirius stood furiously.

“What happened?” Artemis asked cautiously.

“He told Snape about the shack, and how to get there we need to go now. I’ll stop him, Art go with Pete and get McGonagall and Pomfrey and Dumbledore for all I care. Black stay here” James ordered. They all nodded and Sirius looks furious.

They all sprinted out of the dorm. Artemis yelled at Peter to change and grabbed the rat and placed him in her pocket as she ran. James practically knocked Lily over as he ran but he didn’t care. Artemis followed and threw herself out of the portrait hole.

“Pete use the holes in the walls to get to McGonagall, tell her everything, not the animagus stuff but you know what I mean. I’ll get Pomfrey and then I’ll help James. Don’t get caught and if you do, fucking run” She ordered.

She watched rat Peter run into the small hole in the wall before finding a hidden area to change. She would move faster as a hawk. She flew through the school and quickly hid to change back before running into the hospital wing.

“Poppy, please something is happening” She yelled through the wing. Pomfrey took one look at the girl before grabbing a bag and running out of the wing.

“Sirius told Snape about the shack, James is going to stop him, I’m going to help just try to keep up” Artemis explained before she sprinted down to the willow. She saw James dragging Snape and sending spells down the passageway. She ran and narrowly avoided getting hit by the willow before sending a branch to hit the knot to freeze it. She grabbed Snape by the collar and helped James drag him away form the tree. She finally saw what James was doing to the passage. She heard Moony clawing at the wall that had been formed out of rocks and dirt James had collapsed. She transfigured some rocks into large planks of wood and used them to hold the wall up. They then put more rocks and collapsed the entrance to the tunnel. She could hear the horrific howls of Moony beyond the wall and felt sadness fill her. She could hear him hurting himself as he threw himself against the makeshift wall. She didn’t even notice the large gash on her leg when she finally got free of the tree and the tunnel. Her and James laid on the floor next to each other in the cold earth. Both were panting and feeling nauseous. Snape was yelling about how dangerous it was and something like that, but Artemis just laid there. The adrenaline was wearing off and all she could feel in her legs was pain and aches. Pomfrey healed the large wound of James’ shoulder and put it in a sling, apparently he had blown up the wall of the passage when he was too close. Peter and McGonagall collected them all as the twins limped slowly to Dumbledore’s office.

“What happened here?” He asked calmly, looking over the strange view in front of him. Artemis and James were covered in blood and dust from destroying the tunnel and their injuries. They had some smaller cuts which Pomfrey hadn’t had time to heal before they had to go. Sirius was glaring at his shoes; Peter was still recovering from his run and was sat stretching his legs. Snape was completely uninjured, he sat smugly in a corner with fear in his eyes which he was clearly trying to hide.

“Well, clearly Black tried to kill me” Snape said. James didn’t even try to defend his best friend.

“Well, I think that I shall question everyone individually. I’ll start with the Potters so that Poppy can heal them after. McGonagall, could you please watch the others outside please?” The witch nodded and lead the students outside. Dumbledore looked at the twins and motioned for them to start their story.

“Well Professor, Snape called Lily the M word Friday evening and he has been waiting outside our common room to apologise to her. Lily has been avoiding him. I believe they have spoken now but I cannot be sure. Anyway, Sirius came back to the common room with some food for her and saw Snape there. I believe they spoke and he told Snape where to find Remus. You see, Snape has been making comments about Remus often and he believed he knew, he now obviously does. Well Sirius came into the dorm and said something about how Snape will learn to mind his own business. I interrogated him and may have um- punched him slightly sir. I found out he’d told Snape where to go and I ran. I told Peter to get McGonagall and Art to get Pomfrey as I didn’t know what injuries there would be. Then I ran as fast as I could. I got there just as he went through the passage. Remus has told us how to get through the tunnel in case there was every an emergency in the morning after but I swear we’ve never used it. I ran through just as Snape was opening the trap door. Remus swiped at him but I grabbed him and dragged him through the tunnel. I collapsed as much as I could to stop Remus getting through and I guess I must have hit my shoulder at some point hence” He lifted his shoulder that was in a sling, “then Artemis arrived to help and that’s about it.”

“Ms Potter?”

“Yeah, I ran to get Pomfrey and yelled some instructions as we ran. I got to the willow and saw James dragging Snape and went to help. I collapsed part of the tunnel and used some of the rubble to reinforce the wall. I didn’t do much though sir it was mostly James”

“Well I must say, I am very proud of you two” The twins stared in shock, “You risked your lives to help a student I know is not friendly to you or you other friends. I award each of you one hundred points. Now, please go to Madam Pomfrey to get fully fixed up” He dismissed them with a small smile. The twins left the room, and collapsed onto the stretchers laid out for them.

“Mr Black if you would” Dumbledore said as the twins were taken to the hospital wing. Sirius walked hesitantly into the office.

“What happened Sirius?” Dumbledore asked kindly.

“He was saying all these things about Remus, I couldn’t help myself. He already knew where to go, he’s been watching Remus for month apparently. I just told him to go then he’d find out what he wanted to know. I didn’t think he’d do it. Then-“ Sirius broke down in sobs, “They all hate me now, just expel me and get it over with”

“I will not expel you Sirius, but, detention until the end of term, you will write a formal apology to everyone involved tonight, including the teachers and you need to talk to the captain about staying on the quidditch team. It will be his decision”

“But Jones is leaving this year. Who is the captain?”

“You already know”

“Oh, James”

“Yes Sirius. Please think things over, goodnight”

Sirius walked back to his dorm alone. He didn’t bother going to the hospital wing to get his eye sorted, he deserved the pain.

The next morning, Artemis and James woke to Marlene and Lily sat on the chairs between their beds.

“Stalkers” Artemis laughed. Pomfrey had allowed them to stay overnight, probably to avoid them killing Sirius, while Peter went back to the dorm.

“What happened?” Lily asked. Artemis was about to tell her how James saved Snape but James spoke first.

“Just dumb prank stuff went wrong” he laughed. Lily didn’t. She was still furious with him. When Remus was brought to the hospital wing. James silently stood up and walked over to him. He explained everything behind a silencing spell as the girls giggled over nothing. Peter came to visit later and say hello to Mary who was still there. He kissed her on the cheek and everyone there awed. When Artemis finally spoke to Remus, he shockingly didn’t hate Sirius. He was annoyed and angry but somehow forgave him. The fresh scar marking his face would be a reminder to them all of what happened. It ran from his forehead across his eye and down and Artemis couldn’t help but feel responsible. After all, it was her and James’ wall that made it happen. The rest of them decided that if Remus didn’t hate him, they couldn’t either. They were still weird with him, but didn’t hate him.

The end of term came faster than expected. The muggle studies exam went well with the help of Lily and Remus. They promised to write and visit. Many of them were going to the Prewett wedding and would see each other then. They boarded the train and fell into their usual positions. The carriage was filled with an unusual silence. James and Lily still weren’t talking, the boys were awkward and conversations stunted and Marlene was lost on what to do.

Remus:

God Sirius was annoying. The boys had been awkward and strange since the incident. His face was healed now but still stood out like a sore thumb on his face. They were civil but not what they normally were. They’d made a show of being ‘normal’ in lessons, an unspoken agreement that others would never know what happened, but outside they hardly spoke apart from a few pleasantries.

“Remus can I talk to you outside?” Sirius asked an hour into the journey. Remus nodded and walked outside. They walked in silence until Sirius dragged him into an empty compartment and silenced it, blocking the windows as he did.

“Why are you still mad at me?” Sirius asked bluntly.

“I’m not-“

“Yes you are so don’t pretend”

“Fine, you want to know. You betrayed me. You said you would keep my secret and you told him. Of all people. You could have ruined me and you’re damn lucky that he’s scared of Dumbledore. I hate that you betrayed me, I hate that we aren’t back to normal and most of all I hate that I can’t stay mad at you. I should be, I should have punched you, I should have hexed you into next year but I can’t and you want to know why because I fucking love you” Remus froze as he realised what he’d said. He just stared at Sirius. His grey eyes sparkling in the light of the carriage. He was broken from his trance to the feeling of Sirius, pressing their lips together. Holy fuck he was kissing Sirius Black. He had dreamt of it since fourth year and here he was. Sirius tasted like smoke and butterbeer and Remus couldn’t stop himself. To Sirius, Remus was home. The taste of chocolate and vanilla overwhelmed him and they were enchanted by each other.

“I’m so sorry Moony” Sirius said when they finally broke apart, “Please forgive me”

“If you keep kissing me I’ll definitely forgive you ya mutt” Remus laughed.

They sat in the carriage for a while longer, talking and finally going back to normal, with more kisses thrown in. Maybe it was for the best. They walked back to their friends with goofy grins on their faces. Artemis and Marlene high-fived as they noticed how dishevelled the pair looked and the boys were oblivious. They girls just laughed and Remus didn’t overlook the way Marlene was looking at Artemis.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for injury description, mentions of child abuse and Walburga being a horrible mother.

Lily:

Fuck Severus Snape! That asshole son of a bitch had come to her house every single fucking day. Petunia stopped even opening the door after he’d knock for an hour. He was trying to get Lily back. He loved her. Lily recoiled at the thought. Had he only stayed friends with her because he wanted more? Tears threatened to spill as she thought about everything they’d been through together. She shook her head to try to stop the thought. She’d been doing anything to avoid being alone with her thoughts. She’d been back in Cokeworth for a week and she had finished all her summer homework. There was one difference about this day though. Today she was going to the wedding of Molly Prewett and Arthur Weasley. She had giggled when she found out the wedding had been moved up from the end of August. According to Marlene there were rumours that Molly was pregnant and wanted to get married now to avoid suspicions. As the Potters and McKinnons were some of the few families that didn’t view the Weasleys as lesser purebloods, Artemis and Marlene were the bridesmaids. The wedding was distracting her from thinking. It was sort of working.

Euphemia would collect her at 10am to take her to the wedding. Lily always had been an early bird even in the holidays and so had been dressed and ready for hours. Her dress had been specifically chosen by her, Marlene and Artemis during their final Hogsmeade trip of the year. It was light yellow, plain but high necked to cover her scar. That was their main focus when choosing it. Lily also had a small, but fitted with an undetectable extension charm, bag filled with potions for people who she would see from school who were unable to get them before they left. She left her hair down, more likely to cover her scar if she needed. Despite it happening month ago, her incident was still fresh in her mind, especially when Severus had been so horrible to her.

“Lily, Effie is here” Lily heard her mum yell up the stairs. Lily chuckled slightly as she heard the nickname.

Lily ran down the stairs, carefully with her small heels on, and met her dad at the bottom.

“Oh, Lily. You look beautiful my dear. I can’t believe my baby is sixteen and going to weddings of her friends already” He kissed Lily lightly on the cheek as he looked at the young woman his daughter had become while she was away. The events of the year seemed to have aged Lily.

“Oh, Da, it isn’t like they’re my age. They’ve been together for years and are finally getting married and they’re already graduated” Lily laughed slightly. Her dad tutted as she walked away into the garden.

“Ah Lily, I was wondering where you were” Euphemia said as Lily walked out. “Dear I am afraid that we will have to walk a little to apparate due to the wards on the house”

Lily had almost forgotten about this. When she’d come home her mum had explained that they now had wards on the house. A letter from the Potters explained to the family that it was simply a precaution and didn’t mean anything. Lily knew it was to protect them from her mistakes. She ignored these thoughts as she bade goodbye to her family. Petunia was watching angrily from her window as Lily and Euphemia walked down the road.

As the two arrived at the wedding, Lily was overwhelmed by the sea of red heads. She fit in perfectly. As she walked around slightly, Euphemia was socialising with people she knew, she finally spotted a familiar face.

“Remus” she half whispered as she fought her way through the throng of people. A relieved look came over Remus’ face as he finally saw someone he knew. A tall man who looked similar to Remus stood next to him. Lily was already connecting the dots when the man extended his hand to shake hers,

“Lyall Lupin, I work with Arthur. I am assuming you are a Weasley?” He said with confidence causing both Remus and Lily to blush deeply.

“Um tad, this is Lily Evans. She’s one of my best friends. I’ve told you about her potions skills” Remus whispered harshly.

“I do apologise Miss Evans. I saw the hair and-“

“Don’t worry Mr Lupin, I’ve been asked by multiple relatives if I am a grandchild they forgot” Lily half laughed. It may have been a small white lie but she couldn’t deny the confused looks family members were sending as she walked past.

“Ah cariad I brought you a drink that I think is non-alcoholic. It said butter beer but I think I saw some parents handing some to younger children” A woman with a heavy welsh accent and kind eyes said to Remus as she passed a small cup of foaming butterbeer to him.

“Mam, this is Lily. Lily this is my mam, Hope.” Remus introduced the two, “She’s a muggle but was allowed to come” he whispered to Lily. Lily gave him a knowing nod.

The family continued to talk to Lily as her and Hope bonded over their Celtic ways. A voice announced around eleven that everyone must be seated. Lily had never been to a wizarding wedding before and was anticipating the ceremony. As both families were technically part of the sacred 28, it was to be a very traditional ceremony.

Arthur first walked up the aisle set up in the Prewett gardens. Followed by Gideon, Fabien, his brother Billius and another brother whom Lyall didn’t know the name of to pass to Lily. Everyone stood as a song that was so familiar to Lily and yet was so different to how she had heard it before. The wedding march was played and sung by a small band and frogs. Molly Prewett walked through the flower arch and the whole room stared at her. Her dress was white, similar to the muggle way Lily thought to herself, but it was shimmering a rainbow of colours as she walked as if it were light itself. Molly looked beautiful as the joy on her face shone. Carrying the long train of the dress were Artemis and Marlene. They wore simple and pale blue which stood out among the sea of red hair. The girls were the image of pureblood perfection with straight backs and serene yet thoughtful faces. The years of training had paid off. Apparently the girls had been trained all their lives at the art of looking seen but not heard but subtly getting their way. It had failed in the most part for the two but they knew how to hold their own in formal pureblood gatherings. Lily had been shocked to find out that the pair had a light education on the topics of socialising and decorum.

As Molly made it up the long aisle, she stood opposite Arthur with the girls behind her. Arthur and Molly crossed their wands over and gold ribbons wrapped around their arms.

“Molly Prewett please may you speak your vows for all to hear”

“I Molly Prewett vow to care for all the Weasley family members past, present and future” Gold sparks flew out of the ribbons, showing that the vow was made.

“I Molly Prewett vow to always keep a welcoming and warm home for all” Gold flew again and the ribbons tightened and glowed.

“I Molly Prewett vow to always protect you and our future family to the best of my ability” Gold flew out larger than previously and the faces of the couple glowed.

“If I break these vows then I shall face the forfeit of giving up my favourite knitting needles” Gold flew once more but had a darker tinge of red. Lily wondered what they meant. The crowd chuckled slightly and Lily assumed it was a joke of some sort.

“Arthur Weasley please may you speak your vows for all to hear”  
“I Arthur vow to always help you as much as I can when you are helping others”

“I Arthur Weasley vow to try not to overwhelm the house with my trinkets” The whole of the Weasley, Lily assumed, family was laughing at this as the gold once again flew.

“I Arthur Weasley promise to stand by your side through all troubles we may have to face” The gold flew as the crowd noticed the darker theme.

“If I break these vows then I shall face the forfeit of giving up all my muggle trinkets” Once more the red and gold flew as a warning. The ribbons were tight around the couple’s hands and wands.

“I vow to love you as much as I can and as long as I can” Both said together as the room filled with gold. The couple walked back down the aisle glowing with gold and glitter. Every wizard in the room raised their wands and showered the couple in gold.

As the room transformed into a reception hall, Lyall took Lily aside for a moment.

“The vows they make, they have to follow them or else they face their chosen forfeit. The ones today were highly unusual, normally the forfeits are giving up money or estates or _other_ things of value” Lily nodded along and thought of the horrible things people may have done.

Lily and Remus had found Artemis and Marlene and had stolen a table next to the drinks. Remus was subtly stealing firewhiskey and other drinks Lily hadn’t heard of to pass around the table. Euphemia had convinced her mum to let her stay over at the Potter’s for the night to avoid having to apparate her home so late. Artemis and Marlene were drunkenly lying on each other and giggling about weddings and the fact Molly hadn’t drank the whole day. Remus and Lily just laughed at them. Lily was about to get herself another drink when she spotted him. James fucking Potter. Why did he have to look so damn good in a muggle suit. Arthur had requested that people showed up in whatever made them more comfortable, wizarding or muggle clothes. James was stood next to the gift table with Arthur talking presumably about the giant rubber duck sat next to him. Lily didn’t even notice she was staring at the way he moved in the light or the way he just looked perfect stood with his wonky bowtie until the three sat at the table coughed at her.

“So, Lily, something to tell us?” Marlene said with a sly smirk on her face which was twinning with Remus.

“Nah just admiring the duck” Lily said coolly, hoping they didn’t notice her blush. The table raised their eyebrows.

“Evans, care for a dance?” James said as he walked over. Lily didn’t even notice him coming over but the rest of them did. They all had cheeky looks on their faces.

“Sure, why not, gets me away from their drunken asses” Lily said poking her tongue out at the three left at the table. They walked onto the dancefloor as a slow waltz was being played. They dance silently as James perfectly led her round the floor. Lily was trying not to trip but fell into the perfect rhythm. Many of the family members were staring at them as they floated around the floor.

“Let’s go outside” James whispered in her ear, so close she could feel her heart fluttering. Fucking Potter. She nodded and they snuck into the gardens. James led her down a path illuminated by floating lights towards a small area with a bench and flowers.

“Lily” He took a deep breath “I am so sorry for what I did to Snape. I acted irrationally and it was stupid. I promise that I will leave him alone, stop the pranks because I realised how fucked up they were. I am so sorry and I understand that you may never forgive me for what I’ve done over the years but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t formally apologise”

Lily stood dumfounded. The boy who laughed for years at other people’s expense. Who she thought would never apologise for anything. The arrogant, big-headed, toerag she’d grown to know all these years had grown up. She didn’t even realise what she was doing until she said it.

“Come to my sister’s wedding with me” James was speechless not the first time at the hands of Lily Evans, except that usually involved a hex.

“I was going to take Sever-Snivellus, but obliviously that won’t happen so, what do you say?”

“Yes- yeah sure okay” James stuttered. Both were blushing.

“I’ll um owl you the details and talk to your mum tomorrow when we wake up-“

“Tomorrow?”  
“Oh yeah I’m staying at yours tonight” James grinned. “We should head back, I don’t want to know what Remus will be like”

“Drunk as all hell. Did I tell you what happened in fourth year when Fabien brought firewhiskey-“

They walked back slowly. Laughing and joking and being friends. They were correct. When they got back their friends were thoroughly pissed and they would have it any other way. Remus was collected by his laughing mother and his father with a disappointed look on his face. Euphemia laughed as her and Fleamont apparated their children, Lily and Marlene home one by one. As the sober ones, James and Lily were last. They talked a bit more before getting home, heading up to bed and both falling asleep with smiles on their face.

Artemis:

It was week three of the summer holidays. Lily had left after the wedding which had resulted in James becoming very strange, Marlene had gone on holiday with her parents to France and had left Artemis feeling very confused. The thoughts of their moment all those months ago in the hospital wing plagued her mind. What did it mean? Artemis had mostly distracted herself from it by reading every book in the Potter library about curse-breaking or runes. James had forced her to play quidditch which had ended spectacularly badly. Their parents had been away more often than normal despite their retirement and Artemis often saw familiar faces such as Alastor Moody and Dumbledore. She ignored them as they went into the study. 

“Artemis where’s Zeus?” James yelled from down the hallway. Artemis was lying across the armchair in the corner of her room with her legs hanging off different sides and a book in her hand.

“Use your own owl you wanker” she said as James barged into her room.

“I can’t he’s delivering something to Lily and I need to send something to Regulus” Artemis scoffed at the talk of Lily, it was all she’d heard since the wedding.

“Why Regulus?”

“Moony says he hasn’t heard anything from Sirius since he got home. He can normally manage to get something out to let us know he’s alive and I wanted to put his mind at ease, you know how much he stresses the poor boy” James said with a sympathetic look on his face. Artemis groaned before calling Zeus from his perch above her bedroom window. Despite his large and luxurious cage, he always preferred to be outside watching the world. James tied the letter to his leg and watched the bird fly off into the distance. Athena had found her way onto Artemis and was pawing at her chest.

“James, because you love me can you grab the cat treats off my nightstand and pass them over here?” Artemis said with a pleading look on her face.

“Get them yourself you lazy nerd” James laughed as he walked out of the room, with a cocky look on his face.

“Twat” Artemis yelled as he walked down the corridor.

“Artemis Euphemia Potter watch your language” Her mum said as she walked past the door.

“Sorry mum”

The rest of the day was mostly the same. James being annoying, Artemis reading. Normal sibling stuff. It was only when the family were sat down for dinner did anything change. Zeus returned with a small note. The swooping handwriting so similar to Sirius, when he wanted to look fancy, told them who it was from as James held it between the two.

_S.O.B is alive. He is antagonising family. Be prepared._

_R.A.B_

The twins shared a worried look before passing the note over to their parents. They knew what the Black family could be like. Despite not technically being part of the Scared 28, the Potters were one of the most influential and powerful pureblood families, but they would never compare to the Blacks. The family returned to stunted and polite dinner conversations, each looking anxious. James didn’t stop running his hand through his hair, Athena had come to sit on Artemis’ lap as her leg bounced under the table, Euphemia kept moving the rings on her fingers while Fleamont also ran his hand through his hair.

“He’ll be fine. His family is always like this right?” Fleamont said, suddenly. They were all lounging around the family room when Artemis heard it. A small whimpering. Artemis assumed it was Athena getting he head stuck in the bookshelf again. Artemis walked over to the small bookshelf by the window to find no cat by a pair of shining grey eyes outside the window. She let out a strangled breath as she ran to open the large doors. The dog that was there quickly became the shape of Sirius Black. Covered in blood.

“Mum” She screamed “Mum now get the healing stuff now”. James ran over and barely caught Sirius as he collapsed on the floor. James was now yelling for his dad as the twins attempted to carry the boy in. Both the twins were certainly taller than Sirius now and yet it was still a struggle to carry him in. They finally got him onto the pillow bed laid out by Fleamont who was grabbing as many potions that he thought could be of use out of his lab. Artemis had to look away as she saw the complete agony on James’ face as he saw his best friend in the light. He was covered in tiny cuts and larger ones. As Euphemia peeled back his shirt they all gasped. His chest was covered in the tell-tell purple lighting bolts and rash. The Cruciatus curse. Sirius screamed as Euphemia placed cold bandages over his skin. Artemis grabbed a dreamless sleep potion from her frozen in shock father and looked at her mum before giving it to Sirius. The boy quietened as Artemis watched her mum heal his wounds. The marks from the curse would not be healed easily and after a quick read of her healing book she ruled that he would be sore, but he would not be in too much pain so long as she removed the remaining curse. Artemis was instructed by her mother of how to help remove it. They carefully lifted the curse out of his skin and seemed to cut the branches. When they let it disintegrate and fall back into his skin they saw his sleeping form relax. The bruises covering the rest of him were healed as much as possible but due to their magically nature they could only do so much to relieve the pain.

James stayed with Sirius all night. Artemis went to sleep on one of the sofas in the living room while their parents were up most of the night making contact with people to ensure Sirius’ safety. James couldn’t stop apologising to Sirius. When Sirius did finally wake late the next afternoon James had to be held back from hugging him. Sirius groaned in pain and was sitting up carefully. Euphemia was immediately sending out a Patronus with messages for people Artemis didn’t know and some she did.

“Mate, what happened?” James asked kindly.

“I got engaged” Sirius said without a trace of his normal humour. Both twins opened their mouths but couldn’t find anything to say. Sirius chuckled slightly before wincing in pain.

“That’s what I said. Well according to mummy dearest I am engaged to be married at Christmas to the lovely Lucretia Avery yes the sister of the twat that cursed me into the hospital wing in fourth year” The twins still stood stunned at what they had heard. Sirius was sat with a strange look on his face which matched the one on James’.

“I’m so sorry” Both boys blurted out in unison. They all laughed as the boys hugged tightly or as tight as they could.

“I know that I fucked up. Nothing I can say will take it back and I know that-“ Sirius said softly.

“Sirius shut up. You are my brother, and you did fuck up. I forgive you though you’ve been trough enough” James said with a sigh. He hugged Sirius once again as there was a knock at the window. A graceful barn owl holding a large scruffy brown box. Artemis walked over to the window to allow the owl into the room. It landed on the small end table and left the package there. The bird swiftly flew back out the window and back the way it came. The three had confused looks on their faces before Artemis grabbed the package.

_I assumed Sirius is with you. I wish that I could help more however mother and father are still not over it and are violent towards any mention of him and would not appreciate me contacting anyone. I have shrunk his suitcase which he had not fully unpacked and threw in what else I could. His wand is also there. Please do not contact me and instead make sure Andromeda knows what happened. Tell him that I am sorry and that I shall attempt to contact him when we return to school._

Artemis handed the note to Sirius along with the package which James then returned to its correct size. Sirius had tears staining his face as he read and reread the note.

“Can you contact Andy for me please” He whispered to the room. James left and walked towards the kitchen where his mother and father were talking in hushed tones.

“So Padfoot, Moony and you hmm?” Artemis said wiggling her eyebrows as Sirius blushed a dark shade of red and attempted to hide his face in the pillows of his floor bed. Artemis was holding her sides laughing.

“Don’t worry dear Sirius, I have known these things for a while” Artemis said patting the mess of Sirius’ hair. It had clearly not been washed or brushed in days and it was filled with mud and blood. She pulled a face as Sirius laughed.

“Yuck you mutt. Do you want me to wash your hair for you? Mary showed me some spells that make sure water doesn’t get everywhere” Artemis said softly. Sirius nodded. Artemis grabbed her wand and cast the spell forming a bubble around his hair. She then cast aguamenti and watched the bubble fill around his hair. Summoning some of James’ shampoo she added it to the bubble and watched the dirt and blood lift off. Sirius winced as he tried to flick her with bubbles. Artemis splashed him slightly with water as she banished the shampoo. She then added her own conditioner to his hair and brushed through the mass of hair on his head. She washed it off carefully before using a drying spell to allow it to dry. Sirius shook his hair and ran his hands through it before hugging Artemis tightly.

“Thank you, sister” He said softly. Artemis’ eyes shone as the word sister slipped out of his mouth. They hugged again before Euphemia and James walked into the room.

“She’s here” James said with a small smile. A tall and aristocratic looking woman walked in after Euphemia. Artemis did a double take as she saw the image of Bellatrix Black walked in. Except this woman had a small child with bright pink hair in her arms. Her face was softer, less erratic and the hair was lighter than that of the feared Black cousin. The child ran to Sirius and threw herself into his arms.

“Dora you are too big for me now” Sirius said happily with a smile, the pain in his eyes obvious.

“Now, now my little Nymph don’t harass your favourite cousin” the woman whispered grabbing the child who’s hair had now changed to match Sirius’.

“Andy don’t steal my favourite family member away from me” Sirius said with a laugh. “Oh shit James, Artemis this is the only sane member of my family, Andromeda Tonks. You may have seen her around the school at some point. She was our head girl in second year however I was forbidden to talk to her lest I corrupt her. It was too late for that, she was the one who corrupted me” Sirius roared with laughter. Andromeda glared at him and hit him lightly on the shoulder. The Potters left the two to catch up as they took the child, who was named Nymphadora, to play outside. They were shocked every time she changed her hair or eye colour. As she wandered around the small patio Artemis realised how lucky she was that her family were nothing like the Blacks. Artemis screamed when suddenly the child had a large beak for a nose and her hair was gone. Andromeda ran out to them before bursting into laughter.

“I do apologise Artemis, James, Mia. I should have warned you that she is a Metamorphmagus. Of course, many young witches change their appearance with accidental magic, I turned my sister’s hair bright pink, but she can do it with all of her appearance” She finally explained after her laughter had stopped. The whole group then began to laugh as the child changed her appearance to look like Artemis.

“I do apologise for not meeting you two sooner” She said addressing the twins, “However I have been in hiding, you see my siblings are not the most, how do I put it delicately, not the most understanding. I promise now that I shall help look after my dearest cousin and all of you. I must leave though now, I promised Ted that I would go shopping with him, apparently he doesn’t trust himself to get the right ice cream for a hungry toddler. Goodbye and I hope that we can meet soon, oh and Artemis if you need any help with healing practice I work at St. Mungo’s and will offer any help that I can” Andromeda smiled at the family before giving Sirius one last hug as he staggered to the patio to join them. She then grabbed her child and walked towards the fireplace to floo herself home.

The family waved her off and sat in comfortable silence. Sirius and James had taken up Sirius’ stuff into his new room, despite the fact that Artemis knew he would stay in with James for the first few nights at least. Athena seemed to have claimed Sirius as her new best friend and Sirius wasn’t often seen without the cat either on him or following him. They did laugh at the cat and dog relationship but Artemis had her suspicions that the real reason for it was that Sirius was feeding the cat his scraps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised I fucked up the ages of Molly and Arthur but oh well that doesn't matter.   
> Look after yourself with this chapter and make sure you're ok if you have been affected by anything mentioned  
> -Moony


	21. A New Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda long but kinda cute

Artemis:

“James you have to go” Sirius had said for the hundredth time that day. James was due to leave for the second wedding of the summer for Lily. Artemis had received many letters complaining about said wedding and she honestly wanted to go in James’ place just so she could watch the disaster unfold. Lily had explained to her the situation and how originally Severus was meant to go. Her plan was to ask Remus to go but the wedding fell the day after the full moon so Remus would not be in a position to go. As it was in London where Petunia would soon be moving, they would have to stay the night. Thankfully, as Lily had convinced her sister to allow Severus to come there were two rooms booked for them to stay. Artemis couldn’t help but laugh at what would have happened to James if only one room was booked. He’d be lucky to return with balls.

“Sirius I don’t want to abandon you” James pleaded. Both of them rolled their eyes.

“James Fleamont Potter you are not abandoning me. You have the opportunity to spend an evening with Lily bloody Evans so you will be going and I will hear no further comments” Sirius said frankly, “And besides, I will be in the company of the better Potter twin while you are away so I have no qualms” He threw his arm around Artemis as they laughed. Sirius had healed very well since he arrived and was back to laughing and joking. He had settled in perfectly to family life. While he still struggled to sleep and often had to wake a twin up to calm him, he seemed perfectly fine.

“Fine” James grumbled before sitting down on the floor. He had been preparing for weeks to be among the muggles and if Artemis had to listen to him complain about a kettle one more time she would throw him out a window.

“Letters for you all” Fleamont yelled to the children. They raced through the house into the dining room where they found their letters sat. The Hogwarts seal told them what was in it. OWL results. Artemis ripped open her letter, ignoring everything until:

_History of Magic: Exceeds Expectations_

_Potions: Outstanding_

_Transfiguration: Outstanding_

_Charms: Outstanding_

_Defence Against The Dark Arts: Outstanding_

_Herbology: Outstanding_

_Astronomy: Outstanding_

_Arithmancy: Outstanding_

_Ancient Runes: Outstanding_

_Care Of Magical Creatures: Outstanding_

_Muggle Studies: Exceeds Expectations_

“Holy fuck Tal” Sirius exclaimed, “Nine blood Outstandings”

Artemis blushed as she passed her results to her parents.

“James what did you get?” Artemis questioned trying to take the focus of herself.

“Outstanding in everything other than history, divination and herbology” He said proudly, “And something far more important” Everyone looked at the shiny badge he was holding. Quidditch captain. There was a flurry of movement as everyone jumped to hug and congratulate him.

“Sirius dear what did you get?” Euphemia asked as the commotion calmed.

“James will hate me for this, outstanding in everything but history and herbology” Sirius said smugly and James pouted.

“How did you get an outstanding in Divination?” He yelled.

“Ah dear brother you see I predicted that our dear professor would see a certain animal that evening and guess what, she must have bloody seen it” Sirius said with a glint in his eye as the three children burst out laughing. Euphemia rolled her eyes at the children despite probably not understanding it fully, probably.

After hours of celebration and a large cake prepared by the house elves, they were thoroughly exhausted. Andromeda had come round to offer her congratulations to the trio and laughed at James’ rather obnoxious boast about quidditch captain. Finally as it grew later Euphemia walked in and handed a very anxious looking James his freshly pressed muggle suit and a small corsage with a whisper in his ear which made him blush and yell. They apparated away leaving Sirius, Artemis and Fleamont laughing their heads off.

Lily:

James Potter arrived exactly ten minutes early. Lily was sat in the small bar in the lobby of the hotel sipping her lemonade wishing it was something far stronger. As she sat there she heard the familiar laugh of Euphemia. Her head snapped up as she saw the two enter. Despite it being barely a month since she last saw him, James fucking Potter had grown again. While Lily had resigned herself to the fact that she would probably not grow much more than the five foot five she currently was, the rest of her friends seemed to all grow like plants. James walked over to her with long strides leaving his poor mum behind to carry his bags.

“Potter, why don’t you help your mother before she collapses” Lily said with a smirk,

“Thank you Lily. It seems someone here understands what it means to respect their elders” Euphemia laughed.

“Wha- but you told me- mum” James sputtered as his mum nodded slightly. He blushed and took Lily’s hand before planting a soft kiss to it. Lily raised her eyebrows at Euphemia in an attempt to ignore how soft his lips were.

“Miss Evans it is wonderful to see you again and I do hope that you will save me a dance this fine weekend” James said in a voice Lily had never heard before. She realised that it must be a pureblood ritual before bursting into laughter so loud that people looked at her like she was drunk.

“James stop it my sister isn’t here for me to annoy however, here comes my mum. I’ll take you to get your room set up and leave the two hens to chat” Lily laughed as the mums hugged each other.

“Rose, you must meet my eldest twin, and my second favourite child James” Euphemia said as James clutched his heart in feigned outrage. James kissed Rose’s hand as she blushed and looked at Lily as if she would swoon. Lily’s dad carefully made his way over and he shook James’ hand. They exchanged a look of respect as James introduced himself.

“You all can chat while I shall get James to his room before mum traps him” Lily announced to the adults with a laugh as her mother blushed and her father feigned shock.

“I am so sorry James I didn’t think they’d react like that” Lily rambled.

“It’s fine, I’ve spent long enough having mothers throw themselves and their daughters at me” He laughed.

“What do you mean?” Lily asked with a confused look on her face.

“Just pureblood bullshit. Every mother wants her child to marry into _the wealthy Potter household_ ” He put on a fake posh accent. Lily still looked confused.

“Arranged marriages Lily. Since me and Artemis were born, we’ve had people trying to arrange marriages with us. I think Marlene’s grandmother tried to get me and her betrothed without us realising in third year. Most people who don’t see us as blood traitors want to marry us. It’s also why neither me or Artemis really date much. Mainly me, Artemis is a bit more free so long as she’s careful. Last year, Elizabeth Fawley tried to slip me a love potion so she could get pregnant and force me to marry her” James laughed. Lily looked outraged.

“Wait that happens?” She said with her mouth still hanging open. James nodded as they got to his room.

“Yep, most families are better now but it was fairly common for witches to be asked by their family to get pregnant by a wealthy heir so that they would either marry them to get their money, or get paid off to keep it quiet. It’s why Sirius takes the potion, more scandal for him and more money. You know how bad his fan club is”

“But Sirius is- never mind. What potion?”

“The contraceptive potion for wizards. It’s mostly common for pureblood men to take it rather than leave it to the witch. For reasons mentioned. It’s more difficult, you have to take it everyday at the exact same time or it doesn’t work. I don’t bother unless I know I have date” James said with a wink.

He stepped into his room and had the door half closed,

“See you at dinner Evans” James closed the door, leaving Lily still shocked by purebloods.

An hour later Lily was sat with her family, and James. Fucking Potter charmed her mum into letting him have dinner with them all. Of course, when dinner started Lily made it abundantly clear that they were friends and nothing more. Of course, Rose spent the whole dinner making eyes at Lily whenever James spoke. Vernon and Petunia were there. It was not going to go well.

“So, James, my fiancée’s sister had exam results arrive from that ridiculous school today, did you do the exams or were you preoccupied?” Vernon asked as Lily fought the urge to stab him with a fork.

“Yes, I did do exams. I believe I did fairly well, not as good as my sister or Lily but I believe I did well” James responded with his etiquette training shining through. Vernon huffed.

“So James, Lily explained the grading system to us earlier, I don’t understand the subjects but I sort of understand the grades. How did you do?” Rose asked as Lily glared at her.

“I achieved Outstandings in everything other than three subjects which I achieved exceeds expectations. So that overall I got seven Outstandings”

“I believe the best way to put it is that an Outstanding is an A star and an exceeds expectations is an A” Lily said to everyone. Vernon once again huffed.

“Lily, why don’t you tell James what you got?” Her father said proudly. Lily blushed before answering.

“Nine Outstandings and one exceeds expectations, but I can’t be blamed for that, Marlene sneezed into the creatures pen before my practical” Lily said with a small laugh. James looked at her in awe. The conversation continued throughout the evening. Vernon spent most of the night boasting about his job and ignoring Lily and James. Lily felt strange sat next to James. It almost felt like them against everyone else, however that may have been due to the fact that anytime Vernon spoke both of them were gripping their seats in an attempt not to hit him.

After the dinner had finally finished and the blushing bride had finally said goodnight to her fiancé she came over to Lily and James who were talking softly about NEWTs.

“If there is any mention of your freakiness or any of that magic bullshit then I will have both of you thrown out of the venue. Nothing. The only reason you’re here is because dad wanted you here. If he wasn’t ill I would have told him you refused to come you freak” Petunia stalked off with a hateful sneer on her face. Lily had tears in her eyes as James faced her.

“I’m going to bed” Lily said quickly. She waved goodnight to her parents as they sat talking with some of their family friends before running to the lifts. She was stood waiting for it to arrive and trying to stop the tears from falling. She was getting into the lift when she felt someone stand beside her.

“Lily I am so sorry about what your sister said” James whispered softly in a voice she hadn’t heard in a while. She couldn’t help it. She burst into sobs. She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her into his chest. Her tears were staining his shirt as he watched her fall apart.

“I am so sorry Potter” She said after a while, “Also I really should have pressed the button, the lift isn’t going anywhere”

James roared with a laugh that could fill a room for ten thousand. Lily laughed despite her tears.

“I shouldn’t really complain about being trapped in a lift with the smartest witch I know, don’t tell Arty she’ll hang me”

Lily giggled slightly and wiped her eyes. The lift got to their floor and they stepped out. James walked still holding onto Lily towards their rooms.

“Evans, if you don’t mind me asking, what did she mean about your dad being ill?” James asked softly as they reached their doors.

“Why don’t you come in Potter, I’ll explain everything” Lily said as she opened the door to her room, she couldn’t believe that she was inviting James fucking Potter into her room. He nodded as he tried to make a sound but nothing came out. When he entered he sat on the small chair near the vanity. Lily explained everything to him, the illness, Petunia, how she felt like she was letting her family down by not having a wizarding solution to help her dad. By the end of it James was sat on the bed with her, wrapping his arms around her as she cried. They stayed there for a while before James said it was late and that he should go to his own room. Lily felt shockingly disappointed but let him go. The same thought plagued Lily’s mind before she fell asleep.

I have a fucking crush on fucking Potter. Shit.

The next morning, Lily woke up to the sound of her alarm blaring in her ear. She rolled over and groaned as she lifted herself out of the bed. She looked at the strict itinerary that Petunia had given to all of the guests. It said that she must be in the ceremony hall at exactly ten. Lily once again groaned as she threw on some clothes to go to breakfast. Her jumper was pulled up to cover her scar and she positioned her hair to make sure that even if her jumper slipped she would be safe. She walked slowly down to the breakfast hall and sat calmly on her own. It was still very early and she was the only one there. Until James fucking Potter walked in and sat down next to her.

“Morning Evans” He said as he too a sip of his tea. Lily rolled her eyes as she ate her toast.

“Morning Potter, still pissed about me getting more Outstandings than you?” Lily said as she finished her slice of toast.

“Evans you wound me, however I am not upset as you are talking to the new quidditch captain” He smirked as he leaned back in his chair.

“Oh really Potter, I would have thought it’s hard to fly with a head as big as yours” Lily quipped back, using her old insults.

“Really Evans, it’s not usually my head that witches are complaining about” Lily blushed at the inuendo.

“Ah James good to see you this morning” Lily’s dad said as he walked over to the table, looking past the tension between the two.

“Good morning Mr Evans. Are you excited for today?” James said completely ignoring the blush that was still on Lily’s face. Fucking Potter.

“Yes, yes I am. Always a big deal when your first child gets married” he lowered his voice, “I wish it was someone other than him but if she’s happy then so am I”

Everyone nodded as they finished their breakfast. Lily excused herself to go and get dressed, leaving the boys behind. She put her dress on carefully after a quick shower and watched as she dresses to ensure that her whole scar was covered. She had a long sleeve and high necked navy dress that, despite the summer heat, did not make her feel too warm. Her hair was slightly curled and fell around her like a halo. She was wearing the hair piece from James in her hair and she admired herself in the mirror. At half nine Lily left her room to greet some family before the wedding. As she walked down she knocked on James’ door.

“Potter, come on if you’re the reason the wedding starts late Petunia will hang me” Lily yelled through the door. She heard a thud behind it before James opened the door. His tie was undone around his neck and his shit was a button wrong. His hair was messier than usual somehow and he was rushing.

“Shit sorry Evans I got held up talking to your dad, he seems to like me” He said as he grabbed something out of his bag. Lily rolled her eyes as they walked to the lift. She had to focus on not staring at him as he redid his shirt. Lily laughed as he tried to flatten his hair down and failed miserably.

“How come your family created one of the most popular hair styling potions and yet your hair looks like that” She laughed as James shook his head. He was fumbling with his red tie and Lily internally groaned before walking closer to him.

“Let me do it, your hands are shaking too much for it to look good” She laughed. As she reached up to tie it she noticed his Adams apple bobbing and his breathing had shallowed. She carefully tied it, letting g her fingers brush slightly over his chest as she did. As she leaned in to adjust it she noticed her face feeling hot and flushed before looking into his eyes. They were similar to Artemis’ and yet so different. While Artemis often had the pureblood look on her face which had been trained into her by childhood governesses, James never did seem to unless it was a formal event. His eyes had a kindness that Artemis’ often did, but there was something more behind it that Lily couldn’t place. They quickly broke apart as the lift opened its doors and they stepped in. They stood in silence for the ride down and finally walked towards the swarm of people stood near the entrance.

“Oh Evans, I forgot to give you this” He pulled out a small corsage with a miniature sunflower and a daisy. Lily gasped as she saw it, shimmering slightly more than natural, but nothing too obvious. James slipped it onto her wrist before pinning a similar thing onto his suit jacket. James leaned in close to Lily before whispering,

“It’s charmed to be preserved” Lily felt herself flush again as she felt his breath on her neck. They both stood back and she kissed him politely on the cheek before walking into the hall together. Lily showed James where they would be sat, near the back, before she went to greet family members.

After what felt like hours of talking with her family, Lily finally managed to get to her seat before the wedding started. She sat down next to James as Vernon and his groomsmen walked to the alter. Vernon was in a typical suit with a pale blue tie to match the sickly pastels of the rest of the wedding party. As the wedding march began to be played, Petunia’s bridesmaids walked down. She had two of her school friends, Vernon’s sister and their mum walking down before her. They were all in pale pink aside from their mother who was in pale purple. Finally, Petunia walked in with their father on her arm leading her down. As always she looked beautiful and flawless without the stress that had lined her face for the past year. She avoided Lily’s eye as she looked at her guests while walking down. Her dad kissed her cheek lightly before going to his seat next to Rose, who held his hand. Lily spent most of the first part of the wedding holding back tears. As much as she didn’t get along with her sister, they got along when they were younger. Before Hogwarts, and Severus. Why wasn’t she asked to be a bridesmaid, she would have hated every moment in the sickly dresses but it was her sister wasn’t it?

“I, Petunia Nessa Evans take thee, Vernon Dudley to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part” Lily heard her sister say with pride. Lily could hardly look at her sister, barely out of school, throwing her life away to become a housewife of a horrible man. Her sister who was so smart and could do anything in her life, stuck as a housewife. People often thought that Lily was the smart sister and Petunia was the one that would marry rich, but that was wrong. Both girls were equally smart. Petunia smiled at her new husband as the officiant finished the ceremony. Lily couldn’t help but grimace as she clapped for the new couple to kiss, that man was practically holding Petunia hostage as he gripped onto her. Lily vowed to herself that she would never allow a man to treat her like that.

“Let’s go, I’ll steal you some muggle alcohol you love” James whispered as Lily stood watching the wedding party walk back down the aisle. She watched as her sister left her life, not to be seen again on happy occasions.

They were all sat down for dinner when Lily had enough. Everyone else at the table looked at her sadly when they asked how she knew the bride and groom. The rest of them were co-workers of Vernon and primary school friends of Petunia whom she hadn’t spoken to in a while. Lily was almost crying when she realised how little Petunia seemed to care about her. The first dance was stunted and stiff when the couple decided to dance. Lily’s parents were struggling to hold back laughter as they saw the chaos of the two. Petunia had clearly tried to choreograph a dance and Vernon was clearly ignoring it. When it was finally over, Rose and William walked to the floor and started the stream of people dancing. Relatives on both sides were dancing around the floor and yet none compared to the dance between William and Rose. It may not have been perfect, but the love they shared was clear as day shinning through their movements.

“Come on Potter, let’s dance” Lily announced suddenly. She was bored of wallowing in self pity. James extended his hand to her as they walked to the dancefloor. The song that came on was perfect for their dance. It was traditional and yet filled with hope. James took Lily by the waist, carefully placing his other hand in hers. Lily took a deep breath in as she placed her hand on his shoulder. They began to move fluidly around the floor, similar to how they did at the Weasley wedding. Lily was hardly breathing as James wrapped his arm tighter around her. Their faces were closer than ever and they were moving as one around the floor. The music swelled and Lily stared up at him. His eyes shinning and glittering in the light. The song ended and another came on. They continued to dance as images of grace and elegance for at least three songs. After that Lily was clutching her feet as James was laughing.

“James you seem to have killed my daughter with your wonderful dancing, could I cut in?” Rose asked with a small laugh as they walked back to the dancefloor. William sat down next to Lily with a small cough.

“So Lily dear, James seems nice” He said with a small smile,

“Yep he has seemed to grow up a bit, I blame Artemis for making me notice” Lily laughed. William gave her a knowing look and raised his eyebrows.

“Well, I must say, I would rather my daughter married someone like him” nodding to James now teaching Rose to waltz, “Rather than him” He nodded to Vernon laughing haughtily with some co workers. Lily bushed deeply as she watched James and her mum dancing and laughing. She watched how kind he was to her family and cursed Artemis for making her realise how much he’d changed. He stopped with the hexing and pranking for fun and instead was doing it to protect people. While he was still childish and immature, Lily couldn’t help but notice how he’d matured. Fucking Potter.

After many dances of varying levels of injury, Rose and James walked over to the pair and sat down. James laughed as Rose winked at him playfully and William gasped dramatically. James fit in with the family perfectly somehow.

“Want to go for a walk?” Lily asked quietly as her parents were discussing something or other. James nodded and followed her out of the hall. They walked in silence to the gardens of the hotel as they watched the people still milling around despite the lateness of the hour.

“Evans, are you doing okay?” James asked softly. Honestly, she wasn’t. Lily was tired of her sister’s constant comments and rudeness, she was scared about her dad, she knew he was more ill than her family let on but most of all she hated herself for not realising that James only did what he did to protect people.

“Yeah I’m good, heels are killing my feet though” She laughed. James looked suspicious before picking her up and carrying her, laughing all the way, to a small bench. Lily kicked off her shoes as she was unceremoniously dropped onto the bench. James laughed as he sat down next to her.

“Look, I know I apologised at the last wedding but I’m making a tradition out of it. Evans I am so deeply sorry for everything I’ve done in the past. It was horrible for me to have done and I am realising now how fucked up and immature it all was. I was a right toe rag and a bully. I’m realising that now and I honestly think that you and the giant squid are a very good match” He said with a wink at the end opposing his serious tone for the rest of his speech. Lily just stared once again. Seeing him changed shocked her so much. She silently thanked Artemis for probably slapping some sense into him. He stared down at her with his eyes wide.

“James, thank you for realising what you’ve done” Lily said softly. James lit up as she used his name. He ran his hand through his hair as they sat.

“So, I’m assuming my wonderful sister has told you that our brother has finally moved in?” James asked.

“Yeah, that is however sad news for you, you’re now my third favourite Potter child” She replied as she poked out her tongue.

“Well you are by far my favourite of the Evans siblings so you at least have that” James said laughing, “Sirius is settling in lovely, the cat loves him more than me and so does Arty. We all look after him and the house elves dote on him because he slips them muggle books which they love” Lily laughed at the idea of a house elf reading Tolkien or Dickens.

The two returned to the reception to say their goodbyes. James had one final talk with William before following Lily back up to their rooms.

“Good night Evans” James said softly as they reached their rooms,

“Good night James” Lily smiled. She got on her tip toes to reach his height. She kissed him lightly on the cheek before turning to her room and entering. Both of them stood on either sides of the door. Big grins on their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know that Jily don't get together until seventh year but I refuse to accept anything any information we've been given about them as canon.  
> -Moony


	22. Sixth Year Begins

Artemis:

Sixth year. Fuck. Artemis looked at the clock on the wall in the living room. She sighed as she stood with her mum, waiting for the elephants upstairs to finally be ready to come down.

“Boys, hurry up” Euphemia yelled exasperated. While they still had half an hour, they promised to get there early to talk to people and to avoid certain people, more specifically Walburga Black. The boys finally trudged down the stairs brooms in hand looking very smug.

“I guess you two spoke about the, incident then” Artemis said rolling her eyes,

“Yep, Potter couldn’t live without his best keeper” Sirius said ruffling James hair playfully. They all laughed as James ran to the nearest mirror.

“Want to look good for Lily?” Artemis said in a mocking tone, they had been given a full run down of everything that happened between Lily and James and Artemis took full responsibility, despite Marlene’s complaints, for getting Lily to not hate him. They grabbed their trunks as James scowled at his siblings as they laughed at his deep blush. The flooed to the platform and immediately saw the worst thing imaginable. Regulus and Walburga Black, face to face with them. The worst part of all, the rarely seen outside the ministry, Orion Black was almost knocked over by James.

“Mrs Black what a pleasure to see you again, I’m so disappointed that I haven’t seen you at any events recently” Euphemia said with her etiquette fully intact, despite her wand clenched behind her back and a small signal to Artemis that meant to be prepared. James stood in front of Sirius who looked ready to floo back home. The fear etched into his face.

“I can’t say I share the same pleasure Mrs Potter” The way Potter was spat out of her mouth made Artemis feel sick to her stomach, “I see you have taken in our abandoned filth, child I expect you home for the holidays to make up for your betrayal of the family, you are lucky Avery agreed to still marry you after your incident. Now come over here so I can make you look proper again” She grabbed his wrist and Euphemia grabbed Sirius and pushed him behind James and Artemis.

“Don’t you ever touch my son again and I am NOT talking about James” Euphemia said with a deadly calmness that chilled Artemis,

“Stay out of this Euphemia, none of this is your business. If it hadn’t been for your failures of children we wouldn’t be in this mess” Orion scowled. Euphemia looked ready to hit him as Artemis touched her back lightly.

“It became my business when _your_ child showed up at my house covered in blood and I know damn well what an unforgivable looks like” Euphemia breathed shallowly as she said the last part loud enough for some other early families to hear. They all moved subtly closer to the group.

“It was just a little tough love, you must understand. You’re clearly delusional and exaggerating, you are getting older Euphemia” Walburga said with the false politeness only a bitch could muster.

“Tough love, your family must be insane if you think torture curses are tough love. You almost killed him. I would take Regulus if he wanted before you kill him with your tough love” Euphemia scowled. Regulus looked up hopefully for a moment before returning to looking at his shoes. Walburga gripped Euphemia’s wrist as she spat,

“How dare you talk to me like that? Do you know who I am? What I could do to you?”

“Yes, and the torture of your children is the exact reason why you will never speak to my son again. Now let go of me before my other son is allowed to test some new hexes on you” Euphemia said as she ripped her hand away from the woman. Regulus sent a tiny half smile at the three sixth years as he was dragged away. Euphemia grabbed Sirius and stroked his back slightly as they reached the private waiting room. Artemis and James stood watch as they waited for their other friends to arrive. Hopefully Remus got here soon Artemis thought to herself. They hadn’t head much from Remus over the summer, it was well known to them all that he struggled away from his friends.

As Artemis saw Remus round the corner her mouth fell open. His hair was no longer falling shaggy around his whole head and instead was shorter on the sides, but leaving his mop of sandy curls to fall across his forehead. He had definitely grown taller since the wedding and was now towering over Sirius, not that it was hard. He was still a slight boy and since his growth spurt his limbs seemed longer and thinner than ever. Artemis has to admit that the werewolf metabolism was the envy of every diet fanatic in the school. Remus never stopped eating and yet was always small. Sirius was sat with his mouth wide open as he noticed Remus round the corner.

“Hiya Sirius” Remus said as he walked in, his Welsh accent stronger than ever. Sirius smiled and pulled Remus down for a hug. Artemis smile at Remus as she looked up. His scar across his face aged him but the sparkle in his eye was there, it was always there with Sirius. James was oblivious to their situation on the train despite the fact the two weren’t hiding it. Artemis prayed to any gods that James’ obliviousness was not passed onto his children. The group left the small room as many other parents began to arrive. Mary and Dorcas waved to them as they walked past, Alice was stood awkwardly talking to Frank’s mother, who was poking and prodding her. Lily came through the barrier looking tearful and worried until she spotted James and Artemis and ran over to them. Artemis hugged her tightly and Lily whispered in her ear,

“My sister is a bitch”, Artemis stood back and held eye contact with her in a way that showed the love between the two before Lily turned to James. The two looked at each other and blushed before hugging tightly. Artemis raised her eyebrows at her mum before doing the same to Remus and Sirius who were stood just behind. James and Lily pulled apart as they realised everyone was staring at them.

“Congratulations on quidditch captain Potter” Lily said politely.

“Congratulations on your OWLs Evans” James said with a similar politeness. The very awkward scene was thankfully stopped when Marlene walked onto the platform.

The holiday had done her good. She was tanned and her hair somehow was blonder than ever. She had grown over the break, not quite as tall as Sirius but almost there. She was glowing and her muggle shirt was showing off her toned body. Artemis was staring, eyes wide and jaw open as Marlene walked over to her.

“I know I look but damn Misty I didn’t think I looked that good” Marlene laughed as she hugged Artemis tightly. Artemis rested her head on Marlene’s with only a small amount of issues. They stayed, breathing with each other as they did. Marlene smelled like the sea and summer. Artemis couldn’t stop hugging her.

“Hello, earth to you to, the rest of us haven’t seen her either” Sirius said dramatically. The broke apart and Marlene said hello to everyone.

“Oh Merlin we’re all here early for once except Wormtail” Remus said looking around, the three girls shared a look before bursting into laughter.

“You think Pete will come to you lot first” Artemis said laughing,

“He will go to Mary first, check how she is and all that” Marlene said with a suggestive wink,

“You boys are so oblivious” Lily said rolling her eyes. The boys had dumb looks on their faces as the platform began to fill up. Euphemia, who had been speaking to the McKinnons, walked over.

“Hello you lot, all so tall now. Lily stay down here at my height it’s far better” She laughed, “I saw Pete and told him to come over when he was finished talking to Mary”

The boys stood flabbergasted as the girls high fived.

The train ride was chaotic. Peter joined them when they got on looking very flushed and red. Everyone laughed when Mary came to ‘talk’ to him later. Lily and Reus spent most of their time doing prefects rounds and stealing their friends food as they ‘inspected’ the carriages. Alice and Frank came by to say hello quickly before returning to the seventh year carriage. Sirius and Remus were falling asleep on each other as the train continued north when Remus and Lily had returned to them. Marlene was talking through quidditch tactics with James while Lily and Artemis quietly discussed their NEWT options. The train ride passed quickly and they were all thankful when they arrived. The growth spurts many of them were having as sixteen year olds was causing the carriage to become more and more cramped. They stumbled out of the train with numb legs as grabbed their trunks along with their cages. Athena was sleeping peacefully as they walked up to the castle. The feast and sorting ceremony was boring as usual for the upper years. The did have a good laugh at Frank being head boy. They walked up to their dorms, minus Lily and Remus who were leading the firsties and plonked themselves on the beds. As usual they all piled into the boys dorm but not before laughing at Alice,

“Moving out are you?” Dorcas asked as Alice was packing a small bag with clothes and such.

“Hate us already?” Marlene laughed. Alice blushed deeply.

“The head boy and girl have separate dorms so I’m going to spend some time with Frank” Alice mumbled. All the girls gasped and laughed before letting her go.

“Me and Cas are going to spend a lot of time alone in here aren’t we?” Mary laughed. It was well known that the rest of the girls often weren’t in the dorm. Between studying, prefect duties and quidditch, the rest of them were hardly there. They grabbed their stuff and ran to the boys’ dorm.

Peter looked very uncomfortable as they walked in and heard them all talking,

“Wormtail please tell us” Sirius begged. The girls shared a confused look as they sat themselves around the room. Artemis was sat on the floor under Marlene who was sat on Sirius’ bed. Lily was sat on the floor between them and James, which was a shock to them all.

“Do we even want to know what you’re asking about?” Lily shuddered,

“Little Petey’s sex life” Remus said back. He was leaning against Sirius and looked very smug. The girls all laughed and shook their heads as they told them what they overheard Mary saying at dinner. They spoke into the night as everyone got more comfortable. James and Peter ended up next to each other asleep while Remus and Sirius were curled up together. Artemis and Marlene were whispering quietly to each other as Lily fell asleep besides them. Mostly about school and life. Marlene told her all about France and said some dumb things in French. Artemis spoke back to her in unpractised French before they laughed at their stupidity.

“Goodnight Lena” Artemis whispered into Marlene’s curls as they laid face to face. Marlene’s hair had a habit of taking over. She moved her curls out of the way before whispering back,

“Goodnight Misty” and kissed her lightly on the nose. Artemis giggled at the dumb act they hadn’t done since they were children. Filled with memories of jokes and secret conversations the girls looked at each other. Marlene’s eyes were bright tropical oceans that Artemis could drown in. They both rolled over and fell asleep. Dreaming of the other.

Lily:

Lily woke up to the image of Marlene and James hopping over the others in an attempt to leave the room. Lily closed her eyes as Marlene’s running clothes flew under the door and Marlene ran into he bathroom to change. Sitting up and rolling her shoulders, Lily pushed herself up and stood up. She rubbed her eyes and opened them to a shirtless James, stood in front of her yawning. His eyes widened as he reached round her to grab his shirt. They awkwardly moved to get around each other before Lily grabbed the shirt and place it in his hand.

“Uh, thanks Evans. See you at breakfast” James stammered before running out of the room. Lily groaned to herself before rolling Artemis off her mattress. Artemis attempted to hit Lily’s ankles as she rolled over and pulled the quilt up over her head.

“Wake up Art or McGonagall will become a cat and sit on your head” Lily whispered as Artemis sat upright,

“What the actual fuck Lily? What sort of threat is that?” Artemis whispered yelled to avoid waking the others up. Lily grinned before Marlene came out of the bathroom and pulled them out of the boys’ dorm. Lily and Artemis sleepily walked up to the girls dorm to get ready for school as the two fitness freaks went for their workout.

Sat at breakfast, Artemis, Lily and Remus waited in anticipation for their schedules. Due to their grades, they would be able to take everything they needed.

“Hello you three, I assume the rest of your friends will be down later but here are your timetables.

All three of you will be able to take your chosen options and I look forwards to seeing you in lesson”

McGonagall said with a small smile. Lily looked down at her timetable and compared it with Remus and Artemis. All three of them were taking Charms, defence, transfiguration, potions, and arithmancy. Lily was taking herbology with Artemis while she also shared history of magic with Remus. Remus and Artemis were taking ancient runes on top of it all. They spent their time waiting for the others drawing up a plan for when they could tutor younger years and run study sessions. Lily also had allocated time to check and modify her wolfsbane batch. If she worked at it, she believed her final batch should be ready by the new year. By the time the rest of their friends had gotten down to breakfast it was almost time for the first lesson for all of them, except Peter, Potions.

The sixth years walked anxiously down to the Potions dungeon. Slughorn greeted them with his usual jolliness as they went to find their seats for the year. Now Peter had left the class, the partners were a little easier to work out. Remus and Sirius instantly took a bench at the back of the classroom while Marlene and Artemis took the bench next to them. Lily looked sadly at the back of Severus’ head as she remembered all the potions lessons spent together laughing at how dumb people were. James whispered in her ear,

“Want to be partners?” Lily gasped slightly at the shock of what she’s just heard. She nodded sightly as she realised that they were both down a partner. She sat down solemnly next to him just in front of Artemis and Marlene who were giggling at them and making love hearts around them with their hands. Lily silently grabbed her wand and quietly sent a hex at them which turned their hair pink. The girls glared before muttering the counter curse before Slughorn had even noticed. He called the class up to the front of the room and they all walked nervously to where a potion was set up.

“Now, who can name this potion?” he asked clapping his hands together. Lily and Severus raised their hands instantly.

“Yes Miss Evans”

“I believe it is amortentia, sir, the most powerful love potion in the world” Lily responded calmly.

“And Mr Snape, what does the potions smell like?”

“It smells different to every potion sir, depending on what attracts them” Severus answered with a strange confidence Lily hadn’t seen before.

“Well done, 10 points to Gryffindor and Slytherin. Now today we are going to attempt to brew one” Slughorn explained the method behind the potion before they set to work. Lily carefully explained to James how to prepare the ingredients as she added them slowly. She worked hunched over the cauldron and deeply inhaled the fumes as she allowed James to add the final ingredient.

“What do you two smell?” James asked leaning back to Artemis and Marlene.

“Books, the sea and something vaguely floral. Maybe lavender?” Artemis answered with a quick look at Marlene.

“Champagne, the smell of those hawk feather quills, you know the fancy ones in the shop, and crisp morning air” Marlene laughed. Artemis was blushing deeply.

“What about you two then?” Marlene yelled over to Sirius and Remus as they walked over.

“Chocolate, oil and that one washing powder they use at your house James. The one that is now on all my clothes” Sirius said. Lily smiled as she realised how much Sirius was truly safe at James’ house.

“Wet dog, the forest and cigarette smoke” Remus responded with a loving glance at Sirius, “speaking of, did anyone else get more ciggies over the break, I’ve got my stash but I want to check you won’t steal them all” They all nodded shyly. Remus and Lily had them all hooked on muggle cigarettes.

“So Lily flower, what do you smell?” Sirius asked as they all wiggled their eyebrows.

“Siri wiri, I smell the library, the smell of a potions lab and,” She took another deep breath in, “Musk, I think. Kinda like the cologne that I can always smell” She gave a pointed look at James, “But more natural and earthy, none of that chemical shit”

“Looks like our dearest Lily has called you out on your fake musk there Prongs” Remus said with a raised eyebrow.

“Well my dear Moony would you like to know what I smell?” James said with a fake posh accent that was shockingly similar to his normal one. They all nodded before he launched into his speech,

“My dears, I smell the most wonderful things in existence, so enticing, so wonderous I could die in a pool of this fine potion. Why I smell sunflowers, crisp air on a winter’s morning and the smell of those Italian holidays we took as smaller children Tal. It is the smell of love and joy and all things good in the world” James bowed as he finished his speech. They all gave him fake rounds of applause as he dramatically sat back down. Slughorn walked over to them all and took a vial of each of their potions.

“Well done to all of you but I daresay that none of you will meet the standards of the lovely Miss Evans here. I must say that we miss your presence at my gatherings Lily. I extend an invitation to all of you to the one this weekend, to start the year off right”

“Even us professor?” Sirius asked pointing at him and James.

“Yes, Sirius. After the incident at the last one I should like to think that you are more mature now than to hex your cousins, our esteemed guests”

James and Sirius shared a look before packing up and leaving the class. The girls chatted excitedly about what they smelt and explained what they did when Alice joined them from her Ravenclaw partner. The girls walked to their defence lesson and discussed the rumours about who the new teacher this year was. After all their years they weren’t expecting much. They walked in and took their seats and mostly ignored the teacher as they gave the “NEWTs” rant.

By the end of the day the group were swamped and by the end of the week they were neck deep in work and revision. Lily was trying to get as much work as she could during the week to be able to enjoy her weekend that she almost missed prefect rounds with Remus. She worked as hard as possible to make sure it was done. By the time Slughorn’s party came around, she was prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some information on the heights of everyone. I imagine they're all fairly tall, wizarding thing in my mind so here it is:  
> Remus 6ft 4 werewolf thing  
> James 6ft 1  
> Artemis 5ft 11  
> Sirius 5ft 9  
> Marlene 5ft 8  
> Peter 5 ft 8  
> Lily 5ft 5


	23. Slughorn’s Party

Lily:

Lily had successfully avoided Slughorn’s gatherings for the past two years, bar one or two where she wanted to meet some Potioneers. As they had decided to not dress up too fancy, the three girls all wore similar and simple Gryffindor red dresses curtesy of Dorcas and her procrastination. Lily’s had a high neck and three quarter sleeves and a simple flowing skirt. Marlene had a deeper neckline and no sleeves to show off her quidditch arms whereas Artemis had her dress off her shoulders and long sleeves. The three girls walked down the stairs laughing as they almost knocked a first year over. They met with the boys and sadly took their places. Sirius and Marlene were partnered together for the evening and despite Lily’s incessant begging to be Remus’ partner, Artemis had refused to go with her brother, leaving Lily with James for the evening. Despite the fact it wasn’t technically a date of any sort, it was polite to show up with a date and Lily didn’t want to seem rude. She begrudgingly took James’ arm as they walked down to the dungeon used for the party.

As they reached the party doors Lily stopped,

“What if you know who’s are there?” She said anxiously. If Nott and Mulciber were there she knew that she’d panic. She’d managed to avoid them as much as she could since the incident with varying success as they were in the year above. Sadly, this event they were almost guaranteed to be there. Artemis and Marlene moved themselves to flank either side of Lily as the boys shared a look.

“We’ll look after you Lily flower” Sirius said with an unusual softness. Lily smiled at him before walking in, leaving the others to hurriedly follow her.

“Ah Miss Evans so good to finally see you again, I must introduce you to my dear friend-“ Slughorn was saying as he led Lily towards a group of old men.

Artemis:

“Well fuck we have nothing to do now” Marlene exclaimed as she looked around for the drinks. Lily was talking happily with a group of Potioneers as the rest of the Gryffindors were left abandoned in a corner. Artemis looked around slowly someone interesting to talk to as Remus and Sirius shared a look.

“Wait, Marls is that your mum?” James asked looking around and noticing the blonde ringlets almost identical to his best friend’s.

“Why Jamesie poo I do believe it is” Marlene answered patting James on the head like a young child. “Marlene don’t ignore your poor mother” Sirius scolded with a laugh. Marlene rolled her eyes,

“Aren’t you the ones who want to be aurors? Why don’t you talk to the head auror?” Artemis asked as her and Remus laughed.

“We don’t need to so run along children” Remus said as he patted them on the shoulder. Despite being younger than both Sirius and Marlene, his height annoyed them both combined with calling them children. James began to walk over to where Melissa was stood chatting to Alice and Frank as Artemis and Sirius were dragged by the ears by Marlene and Sirius. Alice and Frank laughed and excused themselves as the saw the chaos that was approaching.

“Auntie Mel you did say you were coming?” James said as he hugged the now shorter woman. Marlene was the spitting image of her mother and both hated that James and Artemis had become so tall.

“It was a late decision, lots of work at the moment but you all know how it is” Melissa smiled kindly as she hugged her daughter and Artemis. She looked with a confused look at Sirius and Remus.

“Shit mum this is Remus Lupin you probably saw him briefly at the Potter’s parties and stuff” Remus gave a small wave as Melissa recognised him, “And this is Sirius um- Black?” Marlene whispered the last name with uncertainty. Sirius’ situation was uncertain to say the least.

“Just call me Sirius” he responded after a strained cough.

“You look exactly like your brother, he’s around here somewhere and old Horace introduced us earlier” Melissa said as Sirius’ eyes widened.

“Alrighty mum why don’t you go attack some of the others, we’ll do our sucking up at Christmas” Marlene said pushing her mum back towards where Alice and Frank were whispering something to each other. The look Frank shot Marlene as Melissa walked over gave Artemis an idea of what they were saying. Remus held Sirius’ hand as he led the poor boy out of the room. Artemis followed with James as Marlene went to check on Lily. The twins greeted people politely as they made their way to the door. As they walked out both of them gasped. There they stood. Two brothers, so alike and yet so different. Stood with face to face.

“Siri, I am so fucking sorry. There was nothing I could do, I tired to talk to mum but she was already burning you off the tapestry” Regulus said with a solemness that none of them had ever seen. The Black mask of indifference breaking.

“Reggie, you’ve done everything you could, this is for the best. At least I can still spend all of their money, the removal off the tapestry doesn’t mean I’m formally disowned” Sirius said with a sad smile.

“Oh Siri, you didn’t get it yet did you?” Regulus handed him a letter from his pocket.

“Never did trust your roommates enough to leave your mail alone did you?” Sirius laughed as he started to open the letter. As they watched him read the letter and the tears form in his eyes. Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius as he began to cry.

“I’m disowned, no money, no house, no future. I’m homeless” Sirius sobbed. Artemis had only heard rumours about how bad disownment was. She knew it meant no inheritance, but also the person lost all social standing, all their money from their family and it was normal for there to be no contact with anyone in the family.

“Sirius you prat, do you think mum will let you become homeless you live with us” James said laughing. Sirius removed his face from Remus’ shoulder and laughed.

“Reggie, you have to do something for me” Sirius said making eye contact with his brother, “Come live with the Potters or me when I get my own place, you don’t have to stay with them, I know you don’t believe their bullshit please” He begged.

“Siri you know I can’t do that. I’m not brave like you, I’m not. I have to be perfect for them, so long as they have me being the perfect heir they won’t kill you. You know what Bella’s like” Everyone shuddered at the mention of the infamous Black cousin, “You always protected me, took the blame so for once let me do the same for you” Regulus was crying at this point. Artemis felt like she was intruding on the private moment but knew they had to be there for Sirius. The brothers hugged in a way that made Artemis wrap her arm around James’ shoulder, suddenly thankful for their relationship. The brothers whispered something back and forth between them before breaking apart. Sirius nodded slightly before Regulus started yelling.

“You blood traitor scum, you disgust me” Regulus yelled with a subtle wink, Sirius grinned back,

“Oh go on then you prick, toujours pur my ass at least I won’t marry my cousin” Sirius yelled as the younger boy stalked off. A small crowd had gathered by the door to Slughorn’s room as they heard the yelling. Lily and Marlene ran out and joined them walking back to the tower. Sirius explained along the way how they faked the fight to make it seem like they hated each other. That would remove the suspicions surrounding them still remaining close. Remus held Sirius as they walked back. As they walked into the common room, many students were still awake as they came back far earlier than they expected. They didn’t spot Peter so they went to look for him in the dorm. James lead the way to the boys dorm where they would undoubtedly get drunk. As they reached the dorm James went to open it and stopped suddenly.

“What are you doing? Some of us don’t want to remember tonight” Lily asked angrily, apparently some of the older Potioneers were a little too _traditional_ for Lily’s taste and she had to hold herself back from punching them at the mentions of werewolves.

“Well ah, it’s locked” James said with a puzzled look on his face,

“he’s probably in the shower, you know how skittish he is on his own” Remus said quietly.

“What do you mean it’s locked, do we not have that thing called magic, alohomora” Sirius said barging past the others. As they heard the lock click they all pushed their way in to see,

“What the fuck” They said in unison. On Peter’s bed was Mary with her t-shirt off and her jeans undone, next to her scrambling to get the bed sheets to cover Mary was a very red Peter.

“The party was meant to go on until at least midnight why the fuck are you here?” Peter yelled. Artemis silently handed Mary her shirt from where it lay on the shelf. Mary grabbed her stuff and ran awkwardly from the room. The girls started giggling between themselves and the boys stood very awkwardly as Peter tried to get some of his clothes back in order.

“Pete” James said seriously, “You know what this means?” Peter nodded silently as the girls stood confused. Next thing they know confetti is filling the room and the boys are all hugging.

“He finally did it” Remus yelled,

“He got a girl” Sirius yelled,

“The first of us all” James yelled as Remus and Sirius froze. Lily had been laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face as everyone stopped to look at the couple. Remus raised his eyebrows at Sirius before reaching down and kissing him passionately. The girls once again whooped and whistled. James and Peter both had their mouths wide open. Artemis reached to close Peter’s mouth as Marlene did the same for James.

“W-what?” James stuttered out,

“Oh did we forget to tell you?” Remus asked innocently.

“Must have slipped our minds” Sirius said as Remus snaked his arm around his waist. James and Peter nodded, still blinking at the two.

“How long?” Peter finally choked out,

“Oh since the train ride at the end of last year, is that right girls?” Remus said. The girls all nodded as they held back laughter. James walked over with a strange look on his face before slapping both of them round the head. Remus and Sirius both exclaimed as James faced them.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have had Moony round in the holidays to cheer you up” James yelled as Sirius hugged him tight. The group all laughed and Artemis hugged Peter. They all interrogated Peter about Mary, who he had apparently been snogging since the summer when they managed to meet up in London after their school shopping. Peter was pissed at them for interrupting but after agreeing to not come to the dorm at all the next afternoon he cheered up. As Peter and Mary shared most of their classes, they had lots of free periods together but more time was always appreciated according to Peter.

The next morning, the sixth years woke up with the worst hangovers they’d ever experienced, or at least the worst they’d experienced so far. They all woke up slowly and angrily as they fought for the bathroom. They slowly made their way to breakfast barely in time.

“Hello Mary, I hope you have a lovely afternoon” Marlene said with a wink as Artemis and Lily hit her. Peter smiled and blushed at Mary and they all felt proud of him. The small, anxious boy they knew was growing into a confident man. They ate a very slow breakfast with more coffee than healthy. They were waking up slowly until a very excited second year walked up to James and poked him on the shoulder.

“Mr James, I mean Potter I was wondering if you had any advice for the quidditch trials later?” he asked while avoiding eye contact with Sirius how looked murderous at the loud noise.

“Fuck” James muttered under his breath, “well kid we’re only looking for one place this year, so work hard and focus on the game”

The child smiled and ran back to his friends.

“Fuck I forgot about those” Marlene groaned. She was not in the mood for quidditch and Artemis threw an arm around her shoulder as the blonde tried to go to sleep.

“At least we only need one new one, after the success of last year you lot can stay” James said rolling his shoulders.


	24. Normality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got super nostalgic and really missed my friends so the start is kinda sappy. I think some of them may have found this so please don't bring it up

Artemis:

After the chaos and excitement of September, the group were falling into normality. The strange tension between Artemis and Marlene remained but it had become normal, similar to the tension between Lily and James. Despite all of this however there was one strange development for them, Peter and Mary. They were often off alone leaving the other six behind. They were all very proud of Peter for getting his girl. Remus and Sirius were going well and always seemed to be together, only one small argument had plagued them and that was about who was better, Queen or David Bowie. They dealt with the September moon in a perfect way, Lily and Marlene luckily had a very difficult charms essay which Lily was helping her to complete so they hardly noticed them all missing. The NEWT work was piling up but they were dealing with it together. Lily working on her potions business and her ones for Remus piled up as well and Artemis was often in charge of looking the potions while she was doing rounds. Lily had offered her some of the money she made from it, but Artemis always declined, she didn’t need any more money than she had. After the quidditch trials a fifth year called Harper Richards got the other chaser place. The second year James had spoken to earlier had performed well but he was too inexperienced. James suggested he played in the fun leagues for a year or two then her could replace James.

Artemis spent most of her free time reading or researching for her ancient runes project. During her research she and Remus had discovered a spell to track people as they walked which they applied to the map. It now worked perfectly and they named it the Marauder’s Map. They loved it. She looked at it now with love in her eyes.

“I solemnly swear I am up to no good” She whispered with a smile. She often used it when the others were out. She was sat in her favourite armchair by the window in the common room. She could see James, Marlene and Sirius flying with the team, Marlene’s hair glowing in the soft light.

_Messer, Moony, Wormtail, Talon, Padfoot and Prongs proudly present the Marauders Map to you Messer Talon._

She laughed at the flourish added for them, if anyone else opened it with the code there would be no personalised greeting, but she loved it. She saw Lily and Remus walking slowly around the halls, checking for the younger years who only had five minutes to get back to their houses. She smiled fondly at the names she didn’t recognise stood near Remus and Lily, she assumed they were talking. She never understood how Lily did it. Lily always knew everyone and was always nice to then unless she had a reason not to be. She watched as Marlene flew around the pitch outside the window, seeing her hit the bludger into the sky. She felt proud as she watched Marlene fly. The girl who used to be so scared when her family were out on missions was finding her courage and finding ways to release her stress. Artemis was filled with love for the two girls. She watched on the map as Peter and Mary walk around the back of the greenhouses. The two were working on a project for Sprout and spent their hours not entangled tending to the plants. She watched as Sirius flew around the posts as James and the other chasers fought to get past him. Artemis admired how Sirius had dealt with everything. Between his family and working out who he was, Artemis was so happy for him. The boy who cried every night before he went home to his family finally had one that cared about him. Her brothers were growing into men. James had matured, stopped trying to fix the world on his own with pranks and hexes. Artemis felt proud of herself when she realised that was it was partly her fault he had grown up, and why Lily finally got along with him fully. Remus was walking away on the map and Artemis felt a pang of sympathy. The poor boy had so much going on. His lies in the careers meetings hid his fear and anxieties about what he could do with his future. Even if he got perfect grades he was still at a disadvantage for the future. Yet, he was so brave. The most Gryffindor of them all. He dealt with his life so damn well and Artemis admired him for it. She was so damn proud of him and how he was learning to love himself. She prayed to any gods there were that nothing changed between her friends. Well, maybe one or two things she’d like to change such as-

“Tal can you help me with my defence essay on the Patronus?” Peter yelled as he walked past her. Artemis hadn’t even noticed how long she’d been lost in thought.

“Sure Wormy, what part are you lost on?” she responded. They sat working until the rest of them returned. The quidditch team were covered in mud and sweat so were forced to have showers before they were allowed anywhere near the books. They flopped onto the sofa next to the window and also worked on their homework. The worked in silence with the occasional question asked but the calm was held. Lily and Remus joined them after rounds looking exhausted. Apparently some Hufflepuffs were having some ‘fun’ in an empty classroom and had to be escorted back to their common room to avoid injury. They worked in a calm and relaxed way before heading to bed. They all fell asleep with their sense of normality. Little did they know the shock that they would have in lessons the next day.

Lily:

She woke up the next morning with Athena sat on her head.

“Art, control your damn cat” Lily yelled as she heard a groan. She stood up and took her potion for the day. She had modified a pepper up potion to make sure she was awake and ready. She always had to have one the night after rounds. She got dressed and walked down to breakfast with a reluctant Artemis. Marlene had been feeling anxious about today’s lesson so had slept in Artemis’ bed to help her calm down and somehow the girl still woke up at six to go for a workout with James. They ate joined by Peter and Remus as somehow Sirius had gone with Marlene and James. They chatted for a bit about their lessons before making their way to potions.

“Professor” Lily yelled as Slughorn was walking into his room,

“Miss Evans my dear what is it?” He responded with a kind look at his favourite student,

“I was wondering, if I could attempt to make the Wolfsbane potion in one of the unused rooms? I have done all my planning and small experiments but I wondered if I could attempt to make a full batch?” Lily said as she handed over a small notebook.

“Yes of course, these notes look good”

“Thank you sir and” Lily lowered her voice and cast a look at Remus, “I was hoping to test my work, with the permission of course”

Slughorn lit up before letting everyone else into the room. The lesson went the way it always did, Lily answering and getting half the Gryffindor points for the term, Marlene and Artemis paying attention but whispering to Lily for clarification and the boys somehow doing the same. As they left for their short break they met up with Peter who had a double free during potions. They walked slowly to the defence classroom. Their latest professor was a tall man with dark hair and eyes that were almost amber. He was apparently an ex auror who had been drafted in to help the children.

“Alrighty class, you’ve probably all heard the rumours about dementors being used more in everyday life so I’ve decided to bump up this practical from the end of the year to now. Many of you will be turning seventeen so you are allowed to use this if you see one.”

The whole class whispered as they prepared. The professor gave them a lecture on the correct technique and theory before allowing them to start. Lily had to think hard about her happiest memory. Most of her childhood memories were tainted with the memories of Petunia. She thought of the twins’ birthday, the joy and happiness she felt then. She thought of the Weasley wedding, dancing with James. The day she fell asleep in James’ arms in the common room. She thought of the pure joy she had felt when talking to James at the wedding. How she felt when she was sat with her friends, drinking and smoking as they let the world pass them by.

“expecto patronum” she said as she waved her wand. The glow shone out as she looked at her friends next to her. As she focused on the happiness she felt she saw it. A doe. It pranced around the room elegantly as everyone watched. James stuttered and gasped as he looked. Lily focuses on the doe as it walked over to her friends and nuzzled them. The laughter filled her with joy and she allowed the doe to fade away.

The boys and Artemis knew what their patronuses would be and that was why James was currently hyperventilating with Peter. After seeing Lily’s they all knew what it meant. A matching Patronus was rare and meant only one thing. Soulmates. Artemis shook the thoughts of her best friend away as she thought of her happiest memory. She thought of the tents she would build with James and Marlene as children. Filled with laughter, secrets about family members and the soft glowing lights of the dusk as the sun fell below the horizon She remembers the back to school sleepovers they would all share. As they progressed from chocolate frogs to firewhiskey. She remembered the moment Sirius called her his sister. The joy she felt as the boy finally had a family that loved him and cared for him. She repeated the incantation and saw the shape of a hawk fly around the room. She laughed at it and looked at the pride on her friends faces. They hawk flew to Marlene and circled her head as the blonde giggled. The hawk glowed brighter as Artemis felt the joy.

Marlene watched as Artemis’ hawk dimmed away. A sudden surge of confidence filled her as she thought of her happiest memories. The days when she would see her mother after a long day of tutors and her mother working. Talking rapidly to Artemis in the French, Latin, Italian they learned as children. The days when she would practice quidditch until she could hardly lift her arms and just fall asleep on the sofa by the window as her friends looked after her. Winning the quidditch cup. She took a deep breath in and said the incantation. A dove flew from the end of her wand. It circled and flew around the room as she watched it glowing. She laughed as she saw Artemis mock bowing. Her hair falling from her hasty ponytail around her face like an angel of darkness. The dove flew once again before disappearing as mist. Artemis ran over to hug her. The scent of books and champagne filled her nose. Artemis’ perfume must have been champagne scented because that’s all Marlene could think about as they watched the boys performing theirs.

Peter smiled brightly at the girls as they achieved the spell. He was always proud of them. Each of the girls helped him in a different way. Artemis always gave him confidence in his abilities, Lily always helped him and Marlene always made sure he relaxed. He focused on his happy memories as he prepared himself. He thought of meeting the boys in his dorm for the first time, the joy and happiness of finding people who liked him. How he felt when he achieved his transformation, all the hard work paying off. The joy he felt when his mum’s new boyfriend allowed him to help at his shop in Knockturn alley, giving him a purpose and responsibility. The joy he felt when he was alone with Mary, how she looked at him. He said the incantation as he watched a rat run out of his wand. It scurried over to Mary and she jumped and giggled as she saw Peter laughing. Sirius jumped on him to hug him as he lost his concentration. They congratulated him and hugged him tightly. Joy, this was pure happiness.

Sirius broke from his hug with Peter. He laughed at James still sat in shock in the corner of the room as he realised it was his turn. He thought of his happiest memories. It was damn hard. Most were tainted with his family or betrayal but he tried. He thought of when he arrived at the Potter’s, when they loved and cared for him like their own. When he kissed Remus for the first time, properly. Not in a fight or to make up but a simple, pure kiss in the moments before the others joined them in the shack. He thought of James and Artemis calling him his brother. The shared laughter with Regulus on the nights when they could sneak to the kitchens together. He cats the incantation and watched as a dog bounded out. Knocking people down as it flew round the room with restless energy. Remus howled with laughter as Sirius watched it almost knock Marlene on her ass. Watching the sparkle in Remus’ eye fuelled the spell as the dog brightened to the point of almost blinding him. He released the spell and hugged Remus. The others patted him on the back and hugged him as they watched the happiness on his face.

Remus smiled brightly as he looked at his boyfriend grinning like an idiot. He thought of his happiest memories and most involved the mutt in front of him. He thought of Sirius kissing him, any time sent bottleflies through him. He thought of when Dumbledore showed up at his door telling him he could come to Hogwarts. He thought of his first full moon back at home when he realised that a new cellar was built to keep him safe, with the protections and comforts he had at the shack. He thought of his friends becoming animagi for him. He thought of Lily working so hard to modify the wolfsbane potion to help him. He thought of when they all laughed and smoked with him, carefree and joyful. He watched as the glow from his wand formed into the thing he hated the most. A wolf flew from his wand as he recoiled. Sirius was at his side rubbing his back slowly. He realised that this was different from the creature that lay under his skin. It was more calm, more real. The wolf bowed its head as it looked at his friends before returning to the mist. They all laughed and hugged him tighter as he took a step back from where the wolf once stood. James stood from where he had been wallowing to hug Remus tight.

James did not know what the fuck to do. What did he do when Lily saw his patronus and realised? He avoided her eye and waited until the end of the lesson. He watched as his friend played among themselves with their patronuses flying and running around. Lily was helping some of the other students in the class. A group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were stood watching her with awe as she explained the movements. James felt his heart swell as he watched her smiling and talking to them all. She was so damn perfect. He missed a brunette Ravenclaw girl walk up to Artemis and begin talking to her. He didn’t even feel himself walking up to the teacher until it was too late.

“Professor, I was wondering if I could show you my charm at the end, I feel quite embarrassed going in front of these people?” James said with the utmost grace and decorum. The professor nodded before turning to the class and giving those who had not done it yet their homework to practice it. The class filled out as James waved his friend off. He walked pulled out his wand and thought of his happiest moments. When Lily smiled at him, calling him James. When she danced with him at the weddings. When his mum and dad hugged him tight when he came home. When Sirius called him his brother. When him and Artemis would mess around and prank people when they were young. When he spoke fast Italian at muggle girls while on his holiday because they reminded him of Lily. He watched as his stag walked gracefully around the room. The teacher dismissed him with a smile as he walked off.

Lily had waited behind, claiming she wanted to ask James about the transfiguration essay. Her friends gave her a funny look before heading off to their free lesson. Lily manoeuvred herself so that she could see through the cracks in the door. She watched as James took a deep breath, he had a small smile on his face as he cast the charm. She watched as the glow formed an animal. A stag. A fucking stag. The match to her doe. She knew what it meant. They all did. He didn’t do it in front of people, to protect her. How he knew what it would be she didn’t know but, he’d saved her from the embarrassment. Her heart fluttered and she felt bottleflies fill her as she watched it walk gracefully. She hadn’t noticed him leaving as she thought about everything that had happened between them. He walked out of the room and walked straight into Lily. She blushed deeply.

“Ev- Evans you didn’t, did you see that?” James stuttered as Lily nodded slightly. James blushed as deeply as she did. They walked in silence to the great hall and sat as far as possible away from each other. The rest of them shared a look and Lily thought she saw Sirius slip Marlene some money. Lily ate in silence, thinking about James and what it meant. She hardly noticed when Remus was picking up her school bag and his to carry them to history of magic. She was barely thinking straight for the whole lesson, instead focusing on what had happened. Fucking Potter. 


	25. Young and Sweet

Artemis:

October 28th 1976, Marlene’s seventeenth birthday. The chaos started early. As usual they were waiting until Halloween for the joint party but a seventeenth was a seventeenth. Lily and Artemis woke up Mary, Dorcas and Alice to get prepared. They silently put Gryffindor banners around the whole dorm that would sing happy birthday when Marlene awoke. Athena was shooed out of the room as she was trying to climb up the banners. Mary had stopped straightening her hair and she was pinning singing pins into her curls. Dorcas was doing a similar thing as Alice was putting singing earrings in all of her piercings. Artemis and Lily were taking their presents to the boys’ dorm where they would celebrate before lessons when they heard the banners singing. They sprinted back to the dorm as Marlene was slowly waking up to her serenade. Despite the fact it was almost six in the morning, Marlene looked as effortless as usual. The girls hugged her and gave her the smaller presents, chocolates and fancy quills. Lily, Artemis and Marlene walked over to the boys laughing as they tried to stay quiet. When they arrived Marlene was once again sung to and laughed as Sirius was singing badly into his wand. As they calmed down, Artemis noticed Lily and James sat awkwardly next to each other as everyone else took their places around the room. Sirius and Remus presented her with a brand new beaters bat that had come out only the week before. Artemis knew that James had given them the money as Remus’ family was not the most affluent and Sirius was, well Sirius. From Peter she got a beautiful broom compass so that if she went on longer journeys she wouldn’t get lost. From James she got a punch in the arm and a selection of slightly restricted books about counter curses to dark spells. She hugged them all tightly before Lily turned to her and handed her a box. When Marlene opened it there was a muggle camera inside it. Marlene screamed and hugged Lily tightly before snapping a photo of her.

“You always steal mine so I got you your own” Lily explained still blinking from the flash. Marlene was grinning at her camera when Artemis handed her another smaller box. When Marlene opened it Artemis held her breath. Marlene stared at the box with a grin on her face.

“When you tap them they deafen you to everything around you unless someone says your name, so when James is being a loud twat you can chose to ignore him” Artemis explained as Marlene took out the earrings. They were small but matched the rest of the set Artemis had given her previously, Marlene didn’t have to know how much it cost to get them custom made. Marlene placed them in and touched them lightly. She gasped and looked around. The rest of them started yelling and she looked unaffected. When Sirius yelled her name she looked up and touched them again.

“Holy fuck” She said as everyone laughed. As the clock struck seven, an owl tapped on the window. They let it in and saw the package left there. Marlene ripped it open and saw a box engraved with her initials. Artemis picked up the note that had fallen onto the floor and read it out loud,

“Dearest Marly moo-“

“Marly moo” Sirius yelled as he laughed so hard Remus had to hold him,

“As I was saying, Marly moo we decided to send this present directly to the dorm as we didn’t want it to get damaged at breakfast, we know the chaos. As you know, there are many rumours about your grandmother being a Veela, I will neither confirm nor deny this information but I will assure you that I was the one smitten with your father. Anyways, today you are seventeen Merlin I’m old. I wish I could spend it with you but I know that your friends will take care of you. Here is your watch, as an adult you have more power and responsibility so I will allow you, and presumably your friends as James is nosey and can’t keep his mouth shut. I know you’re reading this so don’t look all outraged James”

“Rude” James yelled laughing,

“This watch is a traditional Veela watch. It was my mother’s and now I pass it to you. It doesn’t do much but it will remind you of the power and strength you have. I believe it will also make your hair glow more than normal in the sun however that may have been a rumour my mother used to hide her true Veela-ness. Either way, I love you and happy birthday my dear, I believe your father has sent some other things over but I wanted to do this not at breakfast. Look after the watch and have a lovely day my dear. Goodbye James”

Marlene had tears in her eyes as Artemis finished the letter. She held up the letter to put it on and Artemis saw the stunning gold watch. It had a pale face and seemed to glow in the sunlight, similar to Marlene Artemis thought. It was soft and had a sweeping design like the ocean.

The rest of the day followed with lots of sweets, lots of singing and ended with a surprising lack of alcohol as they all had lesson first the next day. Marlene laughed all day and had so much fun. Molly gave her a hug and some chocolate before giving some very violent birthday bumps. Beater strength hurt by the look of it.

By the time Halloween rolled around Sirius had become too impatient. He was begging them all to let him have his presents early and every time he did someone hit him. The party was a chance for him to get very drunk and stop pestering them, hopefully. The girls had agreed to do a challenge with the boys. They become each other. The pairs had been decided based on the convenience and friendships. James and Artemis, for obvious reasons, Lily and Remus, Sirius and Marlene and finally Peter and Mary. It would have worked perfectly and no one would notice anything different as the Marauders were skilled at Transfiguration, but magic was banned for the costumes. Artemis had tied her hair into a small bun, pulling parts out so that she looked a mess. She had stolen a spare frame of his glasses and some of his clothes. She ended up in plain and loose jeans with a shirt in Gryffindor colours. Lily had done a similar thing and had curled her hair to match Remus’ as she piled it on top of her head. She wore some simple trousers with a worn jumper on top of a high collared shirt that covered her scar and of course had chocolate in her pocket. Marlene had stolen Sirius’ muggle leather jacket along with leather trousers and had straightened her hair as much as possible. She had put on Sirius’ favourite style of eyeliner and his black earrings. Artemis was staring at he girl as she adjusted her shirt. Mary had the short stick out of all of them. She piled all her hair around her head to mimic Peter’s and wore very simple shirt and trousers, both a very plain shade on her tanned skin. As Dorcas and Alice laughed at them, they trudged down to the party. Mary was chatting animatedly with Lily about muggle musicians Artemis and Marlene had never heard of.

As they all began drinking, the boys entered the common room from the boys’ dorms with the sound of trumpets. The girls braced themselves as they entered. James was wearing Artemis’ relaxed clothes of a simple blue flair skirt and white blouse. It was her favourite outfit when they were at home, muggle fashion was far more comfortable even if she got it wrong. Peter was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit which matched the ones Mary wore perfectly. He was wearing flat shoes but somehow seemed to be struggling in the unlike James. Remus was in Lily’s signature yellow dress that flared around him as he danced down the stairs laughing. Finally was Sirius. He was wearing Marlene’s favourite black mini skirt and a white blouse. He was the only one brave enough to attempt makeup as he had bright red lipstick on. He was also the only on in heels. Marlene gasped as they finished getting down the stairs. There were many whispers about how Sirius managed to walk in them. They were high platforms with very little support to be seen.

The drinking got heavier as everyone danced. Sirius and Remus sang the entirety of Killer Queen before they were joined by James and Peter for Bohemian Rhapsody. Lily sang her heart out to the Beetles and David Bowie. They all laughed as Marlene and Mary tried to duet to The Rolling Stones. Everyone was watching as Sirius sang the whole of Dancing Queen before everyone joined in. Sirius and Remus were dancing together in the middle of the crowd as James and Peter tried to dance int heir skirts and dresses. Dorcas was chatting with the Prewets whom she’d become friend with, bonding over their shared annoyance at Alice and Frank taking over dormitories even when they had their own. Marlene was laughing with Mary about how funny Peter looked in his dress before grabbing more drinks and Artemis was chatting with some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff who had snuck in. Marlene ran around the room snapping photos of anyone who moved as they all laughed at her excitement.

As everyone sang and drank Artemis was tapped on the shoulder by Anna Hart, a Ravenclaw whom she shared many of her classes with. They walked to a quieter spot away from the chaos.

“So Artemis, I was wondering if you’d like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend? I understand if I’m not exactly your um type but yeah” Anna said smiling nervously. Artemis took a look at Marlene. After everything happening between them, she knew nothing would come of it and what harm was one date.

“Sure I’d love to go” Artemis smiled brightly, “Shit I promised to take Sirius shopping. They have quidditch practice all morning so I’ll have to be gone by one probably sorry” Artemis said sadly.

“That’s fine, I’ll meet you at ten by the gates, we can walk around and I really hope you don’t like Madam Puddifoot’s because I may cancel if you make me go in there” Anna laughed.

“Oh Merlin I’d die if we went in there, maybe we could just walk around, maybe grab a butterbeer” Artemis said. Anna nodded happily before the two walked back to the dancing. Marlene gave her a look that said she’d be interrogated later before grabbing more drinks. Sirius and Remus had long left the common room and the other boys were too scared to go up. They drank and laughed until everyone was collapsing. When they finally sat down, Lily was smoking with Alice by the window who had been caught going to Frank’s dorm with him and was now pouting. Remus and Sirius came back down and were sat sipping their drinks on the sofa sharing secret looks and causing everyone to boo them. Marlene was chatting with Mary and Dorcas about music they wanted to listen to live when they could. Peter and James were playing what they called, drunk chess. Artemis did not want to know the rules as she saw James get wacked round the head with the board. She laid down next to Marlene on the floor and closed her eyes, listening to the happiness all her friends were feeling, not thinking about how she’d go on a date.

After avoiding him for two days to prevent her from killing him, Artemis ran to the boys’ dorm as early as she could with Lily and Marlene to say happy birthday to Sirius. He had been more annoying and persistent about wanting to know what his presents were since the Halloween party hangover had worn off. It was finally time. The girls ran over to the dorm, presents in hand ready to hand them to him and wake him up. Despite never waking up before seven in the mornings, Sirius was already running around the room. The boys all gave them an exasperated look which told them he’d been like it all morning. As the girls settled into their positions around the room. Artemis once again noticed the awkwardness between James and Lily. It was different to when they hated each other, it was more charged with something she couldn’t put her finger on. 

“Happy Sirius day boys let’s give me presents” Sirius yelled. Remus first handed him a large pile of muggle magazines all about motorbikes and a necklace with the image of a wolf and a dog running in the moonlight. Sirius hugged him tight and kissed him as everyone fake retched.

“Stop rubbing your happiness in” Marlene yelled.

From Peter he got his favourite chocolates and some that had been charmed to do strange things to enemies. Sirius got a wicked look in his eye as he thanked Peter. Marlene gave him a new leather jacket and some makeup,

“After your stunning performance on the weekend you deserve some more” She grinned before snapping a photo of him, leaving him blinking from the light.

“Sirius, as a prefect I must confiscate stuff like this, I will also abuse my powers if you don’t share it” Lily said with a smirk as she handed him some rolled up joints. Sirius grinned and ran over to engulf her in an almost painful hug. James went next, handing Sirius a mirror. Sirius looked confused.

“Yay James, a mirror so I can look at my mother’s eyes as I get high” He said sarcastically. James picked up a similar looking mirror and looked into it. Sirius jumped as he looked at his own.

“What the fuck” Sirius yelled as he heard his own voice through the mirror.

“Two-way mirror, so we can communicate. Not sure how legal it is so, keep it quiet” James said laughing slightly. Finally, Sirius looked to Artemis who was anxiously tapping her leg. She handed him a small box engraved with his initials. He opened it slightly before gasping. He held up the beautiful watch inside. He couldn’t have the Black family watch, but this would replace it.

“It was Dad’s brother’s watch. Not technically a family watch but it’s close enough” She explained. James went over to hug him. Sirius placed the watch carefully on his wrist. It was gold, but the face had flecks of colour in it which reflected in the light. He smiled and leaned into James’ hug. They all got ready for lessons as Sirius stared at his watch. Regulus would meet up with him later in that day as he wasn’t technically allowed to speak to him.

At breakfast James directed the chorus of happy birthday as Sirius walked in. He laughed and joked as he walked through. The chocolates and sweets given to him by his adoring fan group were tested by Lily and Artemis for spells and potions before being split between them all. The rest of the day flew in a flurry of happiness and joy. November 3rd was always a happy day for everyone. Even the teachers seemed to be in a good mood, despite his attitude to everything, Sirius was loved by all his teachers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some time off school and I was meant to write loads but instead I cried repeatedly over A Court of Silver Flame. If anyone else has read it yet please let me know so I can share this with people :)


	26. Don't Date a Potter

Artemis:

She groaned as she sat up in bed, Athena was asleep on her chest as she pushed her off. It was the day, the day of the date. She had told Marlene about it a little but no information other than it was a date and they were avoiding Madam Puddifoot’s. Marlene would be at practice anyway, no way of knowing who it was with. Artemis had never been on a date before. Not because of pureblood fears, but because of her own downfalls. Whenever she had been asked on a date before she would stutter and suddenly lose all confidence. Around her friends she could be hyper and outgoing, around almost strangers was another thing. Lily and Remus had been given the sad duty of looking after everyone for the morning and Artemis had gotten so lucky with it. Peter and Mary were spending the whole day together and for the morning the rest of the girls dorm were sleeping in. She dressed simply with the help of Marlene. Marlene had been on the most dates out of all of them, never committing though always just one date. She wore a simple blue dress and a long coat. It was almost snowing and so she added very thick black tights to it as well. As Marlene left for quidditch Artemis had a sinking feeling that she shook off. She walked down to the gates just before ten to see Anna already stood there. She shook off the fear in her chest as she walked towards her.

“Hi, ready to go?” Anna said cheerfully. Artemis felt her throat close up before she nodded. The took off on the walk into the village making awkward small talk,

“So how what NEWTs did you take?” Anna asked, Artemis coughed before answering,

“Um I took Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions, Charms, Defence and Transfiguration and Herbology” She answered as her chest constricted.

“Woah that’s a lot, I took Defence, Divination, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Alchemy it’s such a cool lesson”

They walked the rest of the way in silence at least Artemis did. She struggled not to panic when she felt the girl start to talk. Anna wanted to work with magical creature and learn all about them, she loved them. Artemis couldn’t work out why she struggled to talk to her so much. She wasn’t the most social person, she spoke to people in lessons when she had to but not much to others. Not like James who managed to know everyone. As they reached the village, Artemis excused herself quickly before ducking into the Three Broomstick.

“Rosie, I’m begging you half a shot of firewhiskey and I will pay double for my next collection” She breathed to Madam Rosmerta, they had met many times when James had made her replenish their stash. She subtly passed over a shot glass which Artemis took gratefully.

“Date?” She asked smugly,

“Don’t I know it” Artemis said before running back out to Anna.

“Sorry about that I just had to check something quickly with Rosmerta, I don’t trust James” She laughed.

The rest of the date was spent talking more freely, getting to know each other. They talked of books they liked, poetry they’d read and all the fun things they’d done at Hogwarts, excluding a few details. Artemis found herself having a good time, but something nagged in the back of her mind. She liked Anna well enough, but there was nothing special there. They ended up sat in the Three Broomsticks. Rosmerta winked at Artemis as they walked in. They ended up in a corner by the windows that lead onto an unused old track, private.

“I’ve had a really good time” Artemis said sipping her butterbeer.

“So have I, I didn’t expect this to be you thing” Anna said pointing between the two of them. Artemis laughed and spat out her drink,

“Oh you have no idea” She laughed.

“Oh no I know about you being you know, but going out with me, I though you and McKinnon had a thing going on” Anna said lowering her voice.

“Oh no, not at all Marlene doesn’t like me like that” Artemis said

“And how do you like her?” Anna said leaning back in her chair. Artemis froze. Was it that obvious?

“It’s fine, you’re not that obvious, I just know these things” Anna said, “I used to be like that with my ex, liked her for years dated over the summer school fucked it up though”

Artemis relaxed slightly.

“There’s a phone box just outside the village, Remus uses it to call him mum. Use it to call her, good luck” Artemis said smiling. This seemed to be a good way to end the date. Going their separate ways to the ones they really liked. As Artemis led her up to the phone box she noticed the time, it was just past one. She would be meeting everyone soon.

“Good luck, I had a really good time but I think we both have people we’d rather see” Artemis said softly.

“Yeah, and hey if neither of us do well, you know where to find me” Anna said with a wink. Artemis laughed and kissed her on the cheek. She didn’t realise that James, Marlene and Sirius were stood at the other end of the street.

“Artemis Euphemia Potter what the FUCK are you doing?” James yelled as Artemis grabbed Anna and tried to push her to run. James’ long strides had him at the two before they could leave. He grabbed Artemis by the collar of her coat and held his hand out to shake Anna’s.

“Hi, James Potter pleasure to see you now may I ask why you are here with my sister, why she just kissed you and why she didn’t tell me?” He said looking far too angry to be normal. Sirius and Marlene stood smirking behind him and seemed to be making some bets.

“Um, we were just ah” Anna stuttered as she looked at the angry face of James Potter.

“We were on a date but it’s ended now thank to you” Artemis spat at her brother.

“Exactly, why didn’t you tell me, I could have checked they were good enough for you” James pleaded,

“Anna the phone box is up there just go I’ll talk to you tomorrow, library at 10?” Artemis said as Anna nodded and ran off.

“James, I am old enough to take care of myself, why do you think I didn’t tell you? this was my thing and I wanted to have some fun without you going all mother hen on me” Artemis yelled at him,

“Look Arty-“

“Don’t you call me that”

“I just want to protect you, you know that. What if she’d been a Deatheater, or trying to kill you?”

“I can protect myself, and I doubt that a Deatheater would target a confused sixteen year old” Artemis spat. She walked down to Sirius and Marlene who looked very smug, leaving James confused and angry.

“So, that was your date” Marlene said mischievously.

“Yep, and it was going pretty well before Lord Twattington decided to ruin it” She said with venom in her voice.

“He’s just trying to protect you” Sirius said earning him a harsh glare,

“Does he do the same to you when you were snogging Fabien? Did he interrogate Moony with his intentions? Lena did he interrogate Molly and everyone else you went out with?” The two stared at her in silence, she scoffed,

“Didn’t think so. Let’s just buy your stuff alright, happy late birthday Padfoot” She said stalking off as the two followed behind her raising their eyebrows.

They shopped and were joined by Remus and Lily who had finished their late lunch. They all felt the fury of Artemis as she refused to admit she was happy James cared about her so much. James had gone back to the castle according to Sirius and his mirror. Lily and Remus were caught up by Marlene as Sirius convinced Artemis to go into the music shop with him. As they walked back to the castle with their spoils, mostly financed by Artemis and Marlene who secretly slipped them all money, Artemis realised she had something to do.

“I was on a date with Anna because I think I like girls more than boys” She blurted. Remus and Sirius laughed.

“Oh we all knew” Remus said when he finished laughing.

“You’re not subtle” Sirius said rolling his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Artemis said with a dry throat,

“Well my dear sister it is simple, you’ve never had a boyfriend, not that I can blame you with James’ reaction” Sirius started,

“You always spend far too long flirting with Rosmerta, more than Sirius and that’s hard” Remus said rolling his eyes

“I do not” Artemis yelled laughing and blushing,

“Finally, I have seen the books in your room and you have too many of Sappho’s poems hidden to not be into that kinda stuff” Sirius said smugly

“Hey, I read those a while ago” Artemis gasped. Sirius and Remus once again laughed. Lily looked confused but hugged her anyways and Marlene was, well looking at her in a very strange way.

“Damn, Lily I’m so sorry” Marlene started as Lily’s eye widened, “You are the only one of us girls to be guaranteed to end up with a man”

They all laughed as Lily feigned fainting into Remus’ arms. They laughed all the way back to the castle but Artemis still was so angry at James. She hated how he underestimated her and tried to protect her.

As they arrived at the castle they all were freezing, they went to the kitchens to get some hot chocolate and see if they could grab some cookies. When they arrived they saw some third year Hufflepuffs Lily spoke to briefly before they walked round the corner to another section of the kitchen with a small table that barely fit the four very tall people and Lily.

“Hiya Dot could we have five cups of hot chocolate and some of your chocolate cookies, yours are the best” Marlene said to a smiling elf who blushed and ran away.

“So Artemis until James interrupted, how was your date?” Marlene asked as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.  
“It started really bad, you know how awkward I get with people. I had to run to Rosie to get a shot of firewhiskey, but after that it was good. We chatted and talked about school and music and stuff. She has someone back home she likes though, that’s who she was going to call. She’s been in love with her forever but had to split because of school” Artemis explained, knowing the information wouldn’t leave the table.

“I know how that feels” Remus said softly as he kissed Sirius’ head. Marlene murmured something that she couldn’t quite make out.

They sat chatting calmly before they decided to go back to the common room and finish off some homework they hadn’t finished in the week. Most people were still in Hogsmeade so the halls were quite as they walked in comfortable silence to the tower. When they reached the fourth floor they stopped. They heard a scurrying in one of the passageways behind the painting. Lily had her wand out ready to hex as Marlene moved it to the side. Lily sent a string of brightly coloured hexes at the person hidden behind the passage, only to stop and see a very swollen and disfigured James.

“Fuck James I’m sorry” Lily yelled before saying as many counter curses as she could. James crawled out looking very distraught and looked around. From his position on the floor his friends were more menacing than ever. Artemis walked away.

“Arty, Artemis wait” James yelled. Everyone suddenly had somewhere else to be as Artemis turned around with her wand in her wand. Her eyes were almost glowing with the anger sitting under her skin.

“What” She said so harshly James recoiled. He looked at her with pain in his eyes that wasn’t the result of Lily’s hexes.

“I’m sorry. I was just shocked and I wanted to look after you” He said,

“I don’t need your fucking protection. I am not your responsibility and I can damn well hold my own”

“I know that but I’m your big brother”

“My WHAT? In case the information slipped out of that giant head of yours, I am older and either way it is five fucking minutes. Do you think if you were older that your five minutes more experience on earth would make you more mature or powerful then fine. I don’t need your protection and I wouldn’t need it even if you were older ”

“But you have so little experience with this shit-“

“And you do? You do not understand how it is to be a girl, after everything Marlene told you. You don’t understand that before her dates we made sure she knew hexes that required little movement and could be done secretly. Did you know that the older girls offered to keep an eye on Alice and Frank when they had their first dates because they didn’t trust him? All of us know how to look after ourselves on dates James, it’s ingrained into us.”

“Artemis that is not what I mean and you know it. I know you can look after yourself on dates. It’s the other stuff I’m scared of. I want to look after you, if something happened to you my soul would split in two, I mean it. You’ve read what going on, what if something happened today, to either of us, how would the other live?” James was crying at this point.

“I’m sorry Jamesie, I just don’t want you overbearing so much” Artemis admitted,

“I know Arty and I’m sorry too. I promise I’ll try to help with things like that or at least try to learn more. Did you have a nice date anyway?” James asked and that was that. They knew each other on a level no one could ever beat. They could be murderous one minute and back to normal the next. Maybe their souls were connected.

As they went to walk back to the tower, they walked and saw Remus, Sirius, Marlene and Lily stood just round the corner from where they had been talking.

“And that is why Hogwarts corners, are magical” Remus said in a professor voice,

“Woah I never knew that” Lily said hardly containing her laughter.

“Nosey busybodies” James said slapping Remus round the head playfully,

“You know we’d fill you in after” Artemis said linking her arms with Marlene and Lily. They all laughed at James’ failure of an argument before gossiping about others Artemis could go on a date with to watch them get attacked by James. Marlene looked at Artemis as the others laughed and held her eye contact. Artemis could see something almost, hopeful in the bright blue of Marlene’s eyes They smiled at each other before returning to their gossip.

That evening, they were sat under the trees by the lake, their favourite spot to smoke. Sirius, Remus and Lily had their joints whereas the rest of them had their normal cigarettes. Peter had finally detached himself from Mary and had joined them at the tree. They were freezing despite the heating chams and duplicating Lily’s scarf, which had returned to cover her neck in the colder weather. They laughed at Sirius who, unlike Remus and Lily, always went very affectionate towards everyone when he got high and was hugging everyone very tight. Remus and Lily were laid across each other half falling asleep and looking more peaceful than they had in weeks. They stress of NEWTs and the rumours of changes in the ministry for muggleborns and werewolves had them obsessively reading the news every day. Lily hadn’t told anyone, but they’d seen the letters she left around her bed as she ran to the bathroom, her dad was getting sicker. James was hugging Artemis as much as he could to apologise, that was how James showed his love. He was always touching someone’s arm or had their legs touching, Artemis loved it about him despite the suffocating he often did when he was excited. Marlene was laying against the tree with her feet kicking into Artemis as they fought playfully, giggling as they did, laughing fully when James complained about Artemis not being a comfortable pillow to lean against. Peter was trying to stop Sirius from hugging the giant squid by acting as a guard to the lake path. It was the most relaxed and calm everyone had been in weeks. When McGonagall saw them asleep outside from her window, she didn’t go down to get them, she let them enjoy their happiness before the chaos she knew hit them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are probably going to be much slower as I am finally going back to face to face school and exams are coming faster than I'd like to admit. Honestly thank you to anyone who has left Kudos and subscribed it makes me so happy :)


	27. Finally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had this chapter written for a long while and it is one of my favourites

Lily:

_Dearest Lily,_

_I know that your plan for the Christmas holidays were to spend the days between Christmas and New Year with the Potters, but your father isn’t doing so well, we’d rather you stayed at home. You can still go to the Potters for their party but we’d rather you come home after as well before going back to school. We will talk more when you get home but I hope this isn’t too much of an issue. Tell everyone hello and I put some Cadbury’s in the envelope (I hope it didn’t melt or get eaten)_

_I love and miss you Little Lily_

_Love Mum_

Lily read and reread the letter before handing it to Artemis who informed James she presumed. Lily walked out of the great hall with tears in her eyes before getting to the prefects bathroom. She locked the door behind her and sat at the edge of the bath before sobbing. She didn’t care that she had lessons in less than twenty minutes. She had the rest of the week to pray that her dad wouldn’t die before she got home. Since the Hogsmeade weekend in November nothing interesting had happened. They went to lessons, her and James ignored what had happened with the patronuses all those months ago. She watched as Artemis and Marlene’s banter became more flirtatious and the looks more loving. She had a bet with Remus of how long it was before they both realised.

She thought of the good memories she had with her friends to distract herself from the thoughts of her dad. He was the one who truly understood her. Her mum was amazing and tried as hard as she could but she wanted her girls to get on, her dad understood why they wouldn’t. She cried until her voice was hoarse echoing off the walls of the bathroom. She looked at the clock on the wall and realised she’d missed the start of Transfiguration, she’d explain everything to McGonagall and do extra work. She didn’t care as she took off her school shoes and tights as she filled the giant bathtub. She was tempted to change completely and use the diving board that was tempting her, but decided it would take too long to dry completely before her second lesson. As the water filled the large pool she dipped her feet into it. Letting her toes be tickled by the bubbles. She smiled to herself as she thought of the swimming lessons her dad had taken her to as a child, his red hair that had long faded to an almost white colour matching hers as they swam playfully. She thought of him throwing her into the water as she giggled and laughed. She cried harder as the bubbles continued to grow with the water.

“Lily flower are you in there?” She heard Sirius yell from outside the door as he knocked playfully, he never did care about being on time to lesson. Lily flicked her wand at the door and he walked in.

“Holy shit Lily flower what happened?” He said as he ran over to hug her. Lily just cried more as the door was once again locked. She cried into his arms as he hugged her tightly.

“My dad, he’s going to die” She finally admitted, sobbing harder into his chest. Sirius stroked her back as he hugged her tightly.

“Lil, you are the strongest person I know, you can survive this. You’ll be okay. Do you want me to get Art or Marlene, or Remus I think he’d skive one lesson for you” Sirius said softly.

“Can- can you get me James?” Lily said shyly. Sirius nodded and left with one last hug, Lily knew he could convince McGonagall to let James leave, the witch loved the poor boy. Lily sat, numb as she watched the bubbles dissolve into the water, watching her hope dissolve too. After a small while she heard a knock once again, this time it was softer and less jolly.

“Evans are you there?” She heard James ask softly. Once more she flicked her wand to open the door, sadly looking up as she did. She watched as James ran his hands through his hair and walked in slowly. He walked up to her and held out his hand.

“Evans, Lily stand up love” James said softly,

“Love?” Lily scoffed as she took his hand and stood,

“Thought it’d make you laugh” James said smiling slightly, “what’s going on?”

Lily cried into him as she explained everything. He held her tight as she cried even harder.

“It’s alright, you will be alright Lily. You’re strong and smart and talented and can hex the balls off anyone. You can get through anything and kick its ass as you go”

Lily laughed and smiled at him through her tears, the sadness filling her once again. They stayed, stood in the bathroom for a while before Lily found herself no longer crying.

“Hey, James” she said shyly,

“Yeah”

“Can you make me laugh?”

“Sure I think I could- fuck” James yelled as Lily pushed him into the bath. His uniform was dripping wet along with his hair as he rose himself out of the bath, Lily giggled as he shook his head like a dog.

“Lily Rose Evans how dare you trick me like that” James said feigning outrage,

“That is not my middle name, but it did make me smile. Thank you James however I now have a lesson to attend, bye” Lily said giggling and running out of the bathroom, leaving James soaked behind her. She felt lighter, her heart still ached for her father but the slight happiness she felt shone through.

For the rest of the week, everyone made fun of James for refusing to dry his uniform after his dip in the bath. He instead dripped over everyone making Lily laugh as the teachers rolled their eyes. It was some happiness she needed that day and the continued jokes about it held her smile for the rest of the week, at least a little. As the holidays approached she grew more anxious for what she had returned to. McGonagall had offered her the chance to go home earlier when Lily had explained her missing the lesson. She declined and stayed to distract herself and at least pretend that her dad was doing well. She stood at Hogsmeade station with Marlene and Artemis flanking her ready to hold her up if she fainted. She strode onto the train with a heavy heart and tears threatening to escape from her eyes. Sirius and James had been checking up on her all week, making her laugh when they could, smile slightly when they couldn’t. Remus had spoken to her on their rounds about everything and was sneaking her compassionate looks whenever he could. Peter didn’t really know what was going on but snuck her food and a hug when he could.

“So Sirius how are you looking forwards to your first Potter Christmas?” Marlene asked as Athena jumped onto her lap. The carriage was packed as normal and the cat had been allowed to roam over everyone to convince her not to attack the owls who had been caged and carried to protect them in the harsh snow that was covering Britain.

“Oh I’m very much looking forwards to seeing James’ face when Mia announces that she chooses me as her favourite son” Sirius laughed,

“You already know you are my favourite brother Sirius” Artemis said pushing Sirius lightly on the shoulder. James gasped,

“Well I’ll go live with Marlene, her mum loves me the most” James argued,

“The I’ll live with Lily” Marlene said,

“Then I’ll live with Remus” Lily replied,

“I’ll live with Peter” Remus laughed,

“And I’ll question why the fuck you want to live with my parents, then go live with Mary” Peter laughed as his girlfriend swatted him on the arm with her witch weekly.

“Then I shall run away to Alice or Dorcas’ as they would not kick me out” Mary said smiling. They all fell into comfortable silence as the train continued south, the snow covered hills leading to frozen lakes and snow covered fields. Lily’s heart grew heavier as the train got closer to London. Athena had chosen her to sit on for most of the ride and she stroked the cat absentmindedly. She heard her friends laughing and joking as the journey came to its end. Athena was put back in her cage and the group collected their things. She walked off the train, hardly noticing her friends trying to help her. Her small owl hooted in its cage as she carried her bags out. She bade simple goodbyes as she walked through the platform, she felt a hand grab her arm as she went to walk through the barrier,

“Lily, you can do this” James said, Lily believed him.

Artemis:

They all felt for Lily as they watch her walk into whatever would greet her when she got home. Artemis tried to push her sadness as she looked at her mum and Sirius. The hug Sirius had from her warmed her heart. He finally had a family that loved him.

They got home and Artemis instantly grabbed her parchment and wrote to Lily. It was a short letter that asked her if she was doing well and such. The next few days before Christmas were spent doing homework, reading and getting her presents prepared for her family. The McKinnons would be joining them for Christmas dinner as most of them were working for Christmas Eve and wanted a distraction from work. The number of attacks were increasing every day and they were getting darker.

When Christmas morning came Artemis was a bundle of excitement. Despite her and James being almost adults by wizarding standards, they adored Christmas.

“Tal, wake up let’s go” James yelled as he burst into her room.

“Tosser it’s my job to wake you up or have you once again forgotten about my advanced age?” Artemis said as she sat up.

“Technically it should be Sirius or Marlene when she was here for Christmas who should have done the job so technically…” James said holding his chin in his hand in fake thought.

“Shut up, lets wake Pads then go. That boy can never wake up” They crawled out of Artemis’ room and walked to Sirius’. James went to open the door and found it locked.

“I am not unlocking this after what happened with Wormtail and Mary” James said shuddering.

“Sirius, what are you doing?” Artemis asked.

“You’ll see in a minute, go down without me” He yelled out of his room. They had given him his own room when he arrived in the summer but he’d only truly moved in over Christmas, mainly staying in his own room than with James. The house elves doted on him and brought him extra food to his room when they could. Athena still seemed to prefer Sirius over James and James hated him for it. Some days Artemis would go for a fly, feeling in wind flowing over her and the freedom she felt, she’d look down and see a black dog and a stag running through the forest beneath her. She was so happy he was comfortable with them.

By the time Sirius joined them, the twins were bouncing with anticipation, waiting for their presents. The usual agreement for friends’ gifts at New Year’s Eve was still in place, but James and Artemis knew what would happen this Christmas. An old Potter tradition, the Christmas closest to one’s seventeenth birthday was when the child was given access to the Potter Heirloom collection but not the normal ones. These were powerful objects that chose the wizard, similar to a wand. The children would be led down into the vault and be allowed to feel whatever they wanted. Euphemia and Fleamont smiled to each other as they lead them down into the vault. It opened with a dramatic swing of the doors as they got closer.

“Now as Sirius is part of the family in every way but name and blood he is also going to take part. All you need to do is walk around and feel for what is right. You will know in your heart that it is right” Fleamont said as he smiled. He had taken the invisibility cloak which he had passed to James, hoping the boy would use it to not get caught.

Artemis and James took a deep breath in as Sirius just looked around. This was different to his family vault in the Black Manor which he had snuck into many times. This one did not reek of dark magic, instead it held a light he could not explain. Artemis began to walk, looking over the mirrors and cabinets. She walked past the large collection of jewellery and gowns that were preserved in the light. She found an old corner of the vault, filled with books and quills. She looked around and felt a tug in her heart, she followed the path she seemed to be pulled along as her eyes rested on a small gold and silver figurine of a hawk. As she moved her fingers over the beauty of it she felt it move. The figure had come to life, flapping its wings as she looked at it in awe. The hawk, barely the size of her hand flew onto her shoulder and sat there. She decided to test something. She ripped a small piece of parchment she found in her pocket and pointed at it. The hawk flew directly at it, and destroyed it. By the time it was done the parchment was in tiny shreds. She grinned to herself before walking out of the vault, the hawk perched still on her shoulder, preening its feathers. The gold and silver glinting in the light.

When she emerged from the vault, James and Sirius were already stood with their parents. James was holding a ring with a cursive ‘P’ on the top. An old Potter insignia long forgotten until now Artemis assumed. There was a strange symbol under the letter she notice as she looked closer, something like a triangle with a circle and line in the middle. Probably some old runes forgotten and unused anymore. Sirius held something very different from the twins. There was not gold nor expensive looking materials. He held a simple leather bound book. Something so simple and yet the way Euphemia and Fleamont looked at it Artemis assumed it was something far more interesting.

“Artemis you are not allowed to take that to school, it is not the most legal to have in public” Fleamont said as he saw the hawk perched on her shoulder.

“Sirius dear when we go upstairs, try writing something to James in the book” Fleamont said with a small chuckle from his wife. Euphemia elbowed him slightly in the ribs as they walked back to the living room. When they arrived back in the living room Sirius summoned a quill and ink and wrote something into the book. The twins sat cooing over Artemis’ hawk and seeing what it would attack when a not fell onto James’ lap.

_James Potter_

_Hey it’s Sirius I don’t know what this does, maybe it will kill you_

Sirius laughed at the twins reacted and laughed. James stole his quill and wrote something back, preparing to pass it back to him, but it disappeared dropping into Sirius’ hand. Their parents laughed and shared a secret look.

“That’s how your father and I communicated from different houses” Euphemia sighed as she looked lovingly at her husband.

“Yes those messages were the highlight of my day, and night” Fleamont said as Euphemia blushed. Sirius howled with laughter while James and Artemis recoiled, realising what he meant.

“Ready for normal presents please to stop this conversation” Artemis yelled. Everyone nodded as Sirius still laughed.

Artemis and James exchanged theirs first. Artemis got a book she’d been longing to read for months and a small selection of joke products. James got some joke products along with some fancy bath salts that made you feel like you were swimming in an ocean. James did love the ocean. Sirius got very fun and interesting muggle clothes of the twins as he gave them both records they enjoyed. Finally James and Artemis looked at each other and grinned.

“Dearest brother” James started,

“As you are now an old man” Artemis finished,

“We have a special gift for you” They both said as James threw a set of keys to Sirius. He looked down confused and the twins led him out to the patio. Late last night Fleamont had gone to pick it up for them.

“Holy fucking Merlin” Sirius yelled earning him a look from Euphemia. A motorbike sat on the patio. It was sleek and beautiful and even Artemis admired it. Sirius hugged everyone tightly before sitting on it. Looking over every detail he started it. Artemis didn’t know or want to know how he already knew how to drive as he slowly rolled around the patio.

“Sirius if you ruin the lawn you will be fixing it” Euphemia yelled as Sirius came to a stop.

The rest of the morning was spent watching Sirius fiddling with his bike, testing what Artemis’ hawk would do and testing James’ ring for any powers. So far they found that when Artemis wore the invisibility cloak he could see through it if he wore it. Sirius had scribbled into his book at one point and very quickly left the room when he received the response. By the time the McKinnons arrived the Potter children were laughing at Sirius who had been given one of Artemis prank quills that stopped him from letting go of it. He was waving his hand around laughing and trying to put slime in her hair when Marlene entered the room,

“I knew you two would kill each other if you were left alone, enjoying the show James?” She laughed as James lounged on the sofa, sticking his long legs off the end.

“Marlene, want a hug” Sirius said with a handful of slime in his free hand. She yelped and ran behind Artemis who was running around the sofa where James was laughing.

“What are you lot doing-“ Matthew asked his Scottish accent thick, just as Sirius threw the slime, hitting him directly in the face. He took a deep breath in before tackling Sirius. Laughing as the older man released him and undid the charm on the quill in his hand Maxwell walked in and saw the chaos.

“I was going to say food is ready but I think if you don’t get cleaned up one of the mums will kill you” He laughed looking at his brother and Sirius.

The dinner was full of laughter and joy. Talking of their children turning seventeen, talking of quidditch. Gryffindor had not yet played a game and their first would be within the month after they returned to school. They spoke of everything except one unspoken banned topic, the war. After hours of food and filling themselves to the point of sickness the family thanked the elves and gave them some treats as a thanks, the most they’d accept. The two families exchanged gifts, small things that showed how much they knew each other. After what felt like hours Artemis and Marlene came to exchange.

“Here you go” Marlene said hauling what looked like a large frame from her bag, undetectable extension Artemis supposed. She held the large gift in her hands. She carefully ripped the wrapping paper off it, gasping as she saw what was underneath. A large moving painting that showed the sky above them as it happened. In the corner it had a display of the stages of the moon and where they were.

“As the stars and moon move it moves as well. Right now, those are the ones we can’t see because of the sun but are there” Marlene explained. Artemis hugged her tight as she handed over a small envelope. Marlene looked at it curiously as she opened it,

“No you didn’t. How did you get these?” Marlene said staring at them.

“What is it?” Mason asked looking over,

“Music festival tickets, with almost all the people I wanted to see, how did you know?”

“Unlike my brother I am not oblivious” Artemis smiled as James gasped dramatically.

Everyone was laughing as Marlene and Artemis hugged again. The rest of the day flew by in a flurry of laughter and joy. With a small amount of alcohol thrown in later in the evening. When it grew far later and the McKinnons were falling asleep they decided it was time to go home. Marlene summoned her trunk so that she could stay for the rest of the holidays with the Potters, she could never stay away for too long.

For the days following the children relaxed and spent hours watching Sirius tinker with his bike. The played quidditch and Artemis was forced to play keeper when they were doing two-v-two matches. James and Artemis against Sirius and Marlene was the most fair. James being a chaser gave him an advantage but Artemis complete lack of skill evened it out. The days went and none of them had heard from Lily. They wrote but heard no response. They assumed that it was to do with Christmas, she was busy. They hoped that was it.

By the time New Year’s Eve came they were ready for some excitement. The most exciting thing that had happened was they all got kicked out of the downstairs and sent to their rooms for almost five hours. They had heard vaguely angry voices before everything went silent. They had grumbled but their parents had promised to explain soon. The day of the New Year’s Eve party, Lily arrived at midday, looking tired and distressed. The moment she arrived with Euphemia the two girls enveloped her in a hug before dragging her up to Artemis’ room.

“He- he isn’t going to last long. I didn’t want to leave him but mum made me and-“ Lily sobbed into Marlene as Artemis hugged her side.

“It’s okay Lils, you can do this. He’d want you to have fun not mope around right?” Marlene said as Lily nodded slightly. So they got dressed, put on their fancy gowns as required by pureblood society. Artemis could have sworn Marlene complained about the dresses more than usual to make Lily laugh. Lily had brought only a simple high necked black dress Dorcas had altered before they left for the holidays, Marlene and Artemis didn’t want her to feel alone in her fairly boring dress so wore the same dress in different colour. Artemis in dark blue and Marlene in a muted red. Lily’s hair was half up half down and her makeup only there to cover the lack of sleep she’d had in the last few days. Marlene was wearing all her jewellery from Artemis and her hair had been swept up with the pin. Artemis wore her Marauders pendant and her bracelet from Marlene, looking over the charms and laughing softly. James and Sirius greeted them at the door. Both in full dress robes and looking very pissed about it.

“I feel like a dementor” Sirius said as he lifted his arms and ran at Marlene.

“Artemis your date is downstairs and I am afraid I will be stealing miss Evans for the evening” James said as he swept past Lily and held her arm. Sirius did the same for Marlene and Artemis pouted.

“Good luck with those two, they’re animals on the dancefloor” Artemis said as she swept down the stairs to meet Remus. Lily smiled slightly at James when Artemis walked down the stairs, maybe it would do her good to be with him for the evening. Artemis entered the large ballroom and spotted her parents.

“Artemis have you abandoned the poor girls with your brothers?” Fleamont asked with a glint in his eye.

“Absolutely not dear father I am here to meet my partner for the evening before I have to greet your pretentious friends” she laughed as Fleamont held back his own laughter.

“Arty, you know I can’t disagree with you but shhh” He laughed as Remus walked over,

“Moony coming to rescue me?” Artemis laughed as Remus took her hand, “Padfoot is upstairs he’ll be greeting guests with me and James for half an hour then you’re free until midnight” She whispered in his ear.

When she was joined by her brothers and Marlene, Lily and Remus were talking quietly in a corner, sipping their drinks slowly. Artemis often had to subtly kick James to get him to pay attention to the guests and not Lily. After greeting every pretentious pureblood in attendance that night along with those she didn’t want to hex, Artemis was ready to leave. She was good at greeting guests, she had the speech memorised,

“Good to see you, how is your family doing? Yes I am still un-betrothed, have a good evening” That was her conversations for the evening. James and Sirius spoke more freely, less rehearsed but after at least twenty people asked about the marriages they hoped for they had given up.

“That’s it children now run along before I get proposals for you” Euphemia said as she shooed the children away.

They found Lily and Remus hiding behind some large vases filled with flowers, passing small metal boxes between them.

“Hey, no drug deals at my house” James said outraged. Lily, looking in higher spirits, pouted while Remus slid them back into his pockets. They all subtly walked upstairs to the attic once again. They sat around the room as Sirius lit the fire in the corner. Marlene and Artemis flopped onto the old sofa near the fire as Lily sat on the floor by Sirius and Remus. Sirius was calmly attempting to plait Lily’s hair to calm relax her. Remus was hugging Sirius as James laid in front of the fire.

“Not going to lie, I know Wormy likes his new stepdad person but why the fuck is he working today” Sirius announced as they all sighed. They all shrugged, they weren’t too sure on him. They started to summon their boxes of presents as they all got comfortable. They all felt bad for her, so Lily went first, Sirius handed a box over with a small pendant in it, similar to the ones the marauders all had,

“A doe, I love it thanks Sirius” Lily said as she hugged him, her plait he’d done flying loose as she did. Artemis had to swallow a laugh as James choked on his drink. From Remus she got a load of pens and pencils which were the only things she ever wrote with when she could. She only used quills in exams and tests. Marlene and Artemis had once again spoiled their best friend, putting their money together to buy her a brand new cauldron,

“You save my life every month you need a good cauldron” Marlene said laughing,

“Same here” Yelled Remus, he had drunk far more than the rest of them.

“I have one more thing” Artemis said throwing an envelope over. Lily squealed when she opened it,

“Festival tickets” She yelled, smiling fully.

“I may as well do all of it now” Artemis said throwing similar envelopes at everyone else. They all smiled brightly. Finally James handed over his present for Lily. A scruffily wrapped, but better than last years present. Lily opened it and smiled softly as she held up a pair of shoes.

“Dancing shoes so you don’t kill me next time we dance” James said with a smiled.

“I would rather dance with the giant squid” Lily said with a small smirk as everyone roared with laughter.

The rest of them exchanged their presents. Lily gave James a selection of muggle jokes that made him laugh. Sirius got chocolates and mini motorbike parts from everyone.

“Dearest Moony, I have been hard at work finishing this. Everyone helped and they thought it was done, but I added a special touch” Sirius said handing over a large wrapped gift. Everyone shifted with excitement to see what Sirius added. Remus cautiously unwrapped the paper and howled with laughter as he did.

“Professor, are you kidding? God I love you lot” Remus said smiling at everyone. The trunk had his initials and, thanks to Sirius, professor added. They had filled it with chocolates and books along with everything else he wanted. Everyone hugged him and Sirius kissed him softly on the cheek.

Lily handed out joints to those who wanted them along with pepper up potions for the next morning. They were all smiling but Artemis couldn’t help moving closer to Marlene throughout the night. It must have been the alcohol but every time the girl looked at her she wanted to kiss her until they couldn’t breath.   
  


“Woah it’s almost midnight already” James said when Sirius’ mini bike rolled into the clock. They all moved out to the balcony laughing and giggling. The countdown was starting downstairs and they could all hear it. Remus and Sirius were looked at each other, arms around the other. James and Lily were laughing and imagining the horrors Alice and Frank were facing with Frank’s mother. Marlene and Artemis looked at each other,

“Ten” They all yelled, Artemis didn’t know what she was doing when she took Marlene’s hands,

“Nine” Artemis took a step closer as Marlene did the same,

“Eight” Her heart was thundering in her chest,

“Seven” Marlene looked up slightly to look into her eyes,

“Six” Hazel met blue as the girls held eye contact,

“Five” Neither were breathing,

“Four” Artemis released her hand for a moment to brush a stray curl from Marlene’s face,

“Three” Marlene was stepping closer,

“Two” Artemis leant her head down slightly,

“One” Marlene reached her head up,

“Happy New Year” The fireworks went off as Marlene and Artemis kissed. Artemis could taste the firewhiskey and sweets they’d been eating. Marlene could taste the champagne still on Artemis’ lips. They broke apart and hugged as Lily and Remus passed money between them. They giggled and kissed chastely again.

“Happy New Year”

“Finally” Sirius yelled as he kissed Remus.

“I won’t kill this one” James said laughing and ruffling Artemis’ hair. They all laughed and Sirius hugged them both.

“Couldn’t wait one more month could you?” Remus said outraged as Lily waved money in front of his face.

They ate and drank until the very early hours of the morning. Marlene and Artemis discussing their relationship, laughing at how long they’d liked each other and done nothing. Remus, Sirius and Lily laughed at how long they’d known about the crushes while James pouted about his own obliviousness. As they made their way to James’ room to fall asleep, Lily and James made fun of their friends in the most loving way possible. Lily had almost forgotten about her own issues when her and James fell asleep on the sofa, laughing at their friends asleep on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a good chapter before I go back to school. I will attempt to write or at least post some of the chapters I already have but I can't promise anything. 
> 
> Thank you to anyone reading this, it really means a lot.   
> -Moony :)


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